Mass Effect: Alpha Logs: Byte The Bullet
by Vindicator Vagabond
Summary: Our story begins in a back alley near Chora's Den, as the twins John and Jane Shepard race against the clock to save a young quarian woman from the rogue Spectre Saren's assassins. Little do they know, they're not the only ones interested in Tali'Zorah… - Rated M for Strong Violence and Language, and Mature Themes (occasionally).
1. From the Shadows

From the rooftops above, a human clad in matte black armor peered through his helmet down to the alley below. Fastening what he called an "Omni-line" to the ledge from one of his two custom-built omni-tools. The line used the underused omni-blade technology to create a durable yet disposable grappling line to fasten to surfaces using nano-hooks.

Looking down into the alley below, he scanned the scene with mechanical precision and efficiency. three hostiles; Two salarians hiding behind a crate, and a turian acting as the face, interacting with the human commando's quarry, the young quarian female. Her enviro-suit was purple. A small part of the organic portion of his mind noted how the color seemed to suit her well. He dismissed this thought subconsciously, having been trained not to give a damn about fashion or cosmetics.

Pinching the line between his left calf and right shin, the young man leapt down off of the roof, lowering quickly and silently to the space behind the two salarian "assassins." He allowed a small, nigh-silent "heh" to himself; Compared to him, these men were just common thugs on someone's payroll. Here, he was the assassin.

As he raced through the door with his sister and team in tow, John Shepard stopped to survey the alleyway. He spotted the quarian quickly, talking to a mean-looking turian. The taller alien made a suggestive motion, running his hand down her side with a lustful look in his eyes. She batted his hand away, angrily demanding the location of Fist. John grimaced slightly to himself; Fist had been severely injured in their encounter mere minutes prior, and was in no shape to show up. His N7-trained senses drew his vision to the turian thug, who was now drawing a rifle on the girl.

Before John could even take a step forward, however, he spotted the figures of two salarians emerging over a crate. Suddenly, a man dropped down on a glowing orange line behind them, hanging upside-down with a pistol in his hand, unlike any John had ever seen. In an instant, the human was moving, the one hand firing a single round into the back of the left salarian while he simultaneously flipped down from his grappling line.

The black-clothed commando moved with mechanical precision, yet flowed like fire. Without missing a beat, he produced a knife from a sheath on his shoulder and rammed the blade into the throat of the second assassin, pulling it out as if it were nothing. Next to John, Jane pointed out to him that the man wore a jacket emblazoned with the symbol of the VEINS, the yellow and blue markings very clear against the black leather.

He vaulted over the crate, sheathing the knife and holstering his gun while approaching the quarian girl at a brisk pace, either not noticing the turian or simply ignoring him. The alien thug tried to take the opportunity to attack, but the human turned on his heel, lunged forward, and hit the man hard with a helmeted headbutt that made Urdnot Wrex, the krogan bounty hunter that had agreed to work with them, give a grunt of surprise.

With his opponent off-balance, the human assassin reached behind his hip and produced a small grip with a pick at the end. This then extended into a combat axe, with a two-foot grip and tomahawk blade, which John noted had been the "pick" rotated 90 degrees and with the axe head broadened. It must collapse to fit in the grip, John reasoned.

Without a word, the helmeted human raised the axe, and brought the blade down into the skull of the turian, unflinching as his victim gave a dying gurgle, and his eyes rolled back into his head as he fell stiffly to his knees.

Prying the blade from the skull of the now-dead turian thug, the human commando wiped the blood off of it on his victim's shoulder, then kicked him over, doing so almost casually. He then collapsed the blade and returned it to its place by his rear hip. He then proceeded to approach the quarian girl by her hiding place behind another crate, where she cowered at his approach.

Extending a gloved hand, he simply stood in front of the cornered girl and waited to help her up. At this time, the twins and their group finally recovered from the shock of this display of combat prowess, and advanced down the stairs.

When the got about halfway down, the man noticed them. In a flash, he drew a revolver from his jacket and snapped his head to the right, pointing the weapon at the team without ever moving his left hand, still extended toward the quarian girl.

In an almost mechanical tone, he finally spoke, "Identify yourselves or I will assume hostility and you will be terminated." He spoke quickly and clearly, voice low and smooth, with a slight monotony that almost made him sound like a VI. The helmet he wore had a full-face visor that was colored matte black, blocking the view of his face even more thoroughly than the quarian's mask.

John gave the signal to lower weapons, and the commando proceeded to mirror the action, stowing the revolver. He then listed off each of the six team members, identifying them and verifying their purpose. He offered to escort Ashley Williams, a marine they rescued on Eden Prime, back to her squad. After she used some choice words to describe the current status of her old team, the man simply nodded, saying indifferently, "Understood. I was not yet made aware of this new development. I apologize for your loss."

Next to him, Jane facepalmed. John shared a glance with Garrus, who mouthed, "What is up with this guy?" A question John shared. Leaping from the shadows, executing thugs, rescuing a quarian, acting so mechanically; This VEINS commando was not your average human.

At last, the quarian girl pulled herself together enough to take the man's yet-outstretched hand. He reacted instantly, pulling her to her feet none-too-aggressively. He then stood aside as they underwent their own meeting with her and her data on Saren.

* * *

**A/N: Howdy, VV here. This is my first story ever to be published on the internet, so please be gentle if you leave a review. These first two chapters are kind of short, as I wrote them both in a day. I am planning on making this into a series, even after BtB, so if you like it, please tell me as much and I will continue to update regularly, and begin work on the next ones! In relative contrast, I am writing this for fun. This means that even with a small group of readers will I continue to write. However, it also means that if I do not receive any support, then I will drop Alpha Logs until I do.**

**I am creating, writing, editing, and proofreading this on my own. So if there are any errors, it means that I didn't catch them so please point them out!**

** Hope you enjoy,**

** -Vindicator Vagabond**


	2. Food for the Soul

As Tali'Zorah finished sharing her information on Saren, and the Council granted John and Jane Shepard the title of first human Spectres, Tali requested to join them on the Normandy to help find Saren.

The black-clad commando, having insisted on coming along to prevent further "hostile attempts at ambush" stepped forward after Jane welcomed Tali aboard, commenting that her engineering skills would be useful.

"Commander," he said smoothly, "I would request that I, too, come aboard Normandy to assist in the apprehending of the rogue Spectre Saren. What you witnessed in the Wards is a mere fraction of my ability in combat."

Both John and Jane studied him, until John asked, "We don't even know who you really are. Could you at least tell us your name?"

"I am the top field agent of The Founder, raised, trained, and supplied by the VEINS Military Coalition Special Forces Division," he responded with practiced speech, "The SFD has already delivered supplies to allow me to be self-sufficient aboard Normandy, including weapons and armor. I am known as Alpha Black."

The twins looked at each other, nodded, and John took his turn to welcome the new crewmate. The two soldiers shook hands, the commander making a visible effort not to wince at Alpha's iron grip, the cybernetic's ultra-enhanced senses easily detecting the reaction, though it was invisible to anyone else.

He then turned to Tali, who jumped slightly when he moved to shake her hand as well, moving his hand quickly, but stopping at a calculated angle and distance. He made a point to be much gentler with this handshake than with John, his mind having already processed the fact that Tali was not nearly as… durable as the Commander. He compensated by matching her grip strength when she returned the gesture.

"Tali'Zorah, I am grateful that all of us were able to leave alive and well today," Alpha pause, releasing her hand and shifting gears, "Your combat training needs attention if you are to serve aboard a military vessel."

"O-oh," Tali stammered out, shifting uncomfortably from being put on the spot, "I never really got any real training. What I know, I taught myself."

Alpha nodded, feeling the corner of his mouth twitch. It was the closest he ever came to smiling. Not that anyone could see that underneath his helmet. "Impressive."

"Wh-what?" was all she could manage as a response.

Alpha nodded, "Surprise is understandable. It is not often that one is able to self-teach the art of combat to any degree." The group began to walk, and Alpha followed while continuing the conversation, "I noticed you had primed a grenade before I moved to attack. Your target would have been the two salarians, based on where you were looking. Good tactic, but their turian partner would still have had a clear shot at you. However, it is a better tactic than 'hide and freeze' like most people in your position would."

"Oh," Tali perked up at the compliment, "Thank you, Mister Black."

Alpha shook his head, "I was simply giving an objective analysis of your tactics. No need to thank me. As for further training, I will gladly train you aboard Normandy in your spare time. In the VEINS, we had a system for training recruits that were, as I believe the term goes, 'wet behind the ears.' You'll excel, I think."

Their current destination was a local restaurant, the plan being that everyone gets a good meal before leaving on the Normandy. Wrex ordered a huge portion of various meats, Garrus a simple dextro platter, the other four humans getting various meals. Alpha simply stated that he would eat what anyone else didn't.

Tali, on the other hand, insisted that she couldn't pay for anything on the menu. At this, Alpha turned his head to look at her. Quarians couldn't turn their eyes in their sockets, so they had to turn their heads to look at things. This made Tali look like some kind of bird as she pivoted her head to listen to conversation.

Alpha did so by choice, as to signify to those around him where he was looking. Now, he looked at Tali, saying firmly, "Then I will pay on your behalf. Order whatever you want."

Tali became flustered at this notion, waving her hands, "Oh, no, no, I can't do that. I can't pay you ba-"

Alpha placed a hand on her shoulder, a gesture he had learned during his time in the VMC. He held up his own unopened menu, pointing forcefully at hers, "I am not ordering anything for myself." he said forcefully.

"And this is not a loan; You will not pay me back, you will not owe me anything save a possible favor. Even that has a possibility of less than 0.1%. Order. As a Lieutenant Commander in the Alliance, and a Founder's Hand in the VEINS, do I have to make this an order, Tali'Zorah?"

Suddenly, Tali asked, "How can you do that? Make those calculations, I mean."

She seemed legitimately curious, not avoiding the topic of ordering a meal, so Alpha answered painly, "Because I am an Artificial Intelligence wired into a tank-grown human body." Tali jerked away from him at this notion. Alpha instantly realised why, and launched into a rapid explanation.

"First, if I wanted harm to come to you then I would not have stopped Saren's thugs in the Wards. Second, I am well aware of how quarians feel about AI, due to their experience with the geth. However, unlike the geth, I am an individual program that uses the organic brain in this body, heavily augmented, to think. I am well aware that I am scientifically 'alive,' but I do not have the notion of the possession of a soul. In fact, I still struggle with the concept of 'souls.' All I know about them for sure is that I have none. You, however, do. And proper nutrition is good for the soul."

Tali simply sat in silence for a moment, processing the rapidly delivered information. The fact that Alpha had expertly maneuvered back to the subject of food was probably another layer of complication to her brain, he reasoned inwardly as he waited for her to respond. Garrus beat her to it.

"Spirits, Alpha," he said in his trademark joking tone, "You broke her! That much information at once is a bit much for the brains of us mere organics." At least he took the notion of AI well.

The implications of the statement dawned on him, though. He semi-frantically turned to Tali, "Tali'Zorah, do you need medical attention? I was unaware that it was possible to harm organics through the sha-"

Now it was Tali's turn to cut Alpha off. "It was a joke, Mister Black. I'm fine, just…" she gestured to her menu, "I don't even know what any of these dishes are!" Internally, Alpha gave a sigh of relief; She was okay with him now. For some reason, the notion of Tali being at all unhappy with him gave him an unpleasant feeling in his gut that made him want to punch something.

Wrex, on the other hand, had already ordered another huge serving of… meat. Just… in general, he ordered meat. Not surprising, given that he was a krogan. The others were focused on Tali and Alpha, however. The twins looked at each other, unsure of what to do, while Ashley simply kept silent and ate. Kaidan, however, acted.

"Well," he offered, "You might want to start with a drink." He read off several dextro-friendly wines that were offered there. Tali, under Alpha's steel gaze, ordered five different wines, not realizing what she was signing herself up for. Wrex, however, knew all too well.

With a bellowing laugh, he put a hand on Tali's shoulder. "Looks like our little bucket-head is a heavyweight! Hope you have something to vomit into in that thing!"

Tali's eyes widened behind her mask. It dawned on her what Wrex was saying, and she looked to Alpha for guidance. He just offered a shrug, saying, "I'm capable of processing dextro foods. I'll drink what you don't." This seemed to comfort her a bit.

She looked at the menu again, asking, "Okay, so what are these foods, then?"

Alpha slid over in his seat so that their shoulders connected, then took one side of her menu to help her. His hyper-enhanced vision and nerves caught Tali's breath hitch at the motion. He brushed it off as reflex by sudden proximity. He pointed out each dextro-friendly food on the menu, explaining what each one was, what it tasted like, and how popular it was with the restaurant's patrons. He made a point not to answer when asked about price.

Over the next half-hour, Tali ate, drank and conversed with the rest of team Normandy, while Alpha constantly kept the table free of finished plates and tableware, in an effort to help the very grateful staff.

Tali, however, quickly began to feel the effects of the five orders of liquor. Half drunk by the third glass, she hiccupped when speaking and swayed as if she were on a boat. When she finished the fifth glass, it was time to leave; They had already spent an hour there. Tali, however, was not quite ready to start walking, and toppled forward in a drunken stupor after the first few steps. Toppled forward, that is, right onto Alpha.

At the sensation of something hitting his backside, cybernetic super-soldier whipped around to see the wasted quarian trying to stabilize herself without success. The corner of his mouth twitched at the sight of Tali and her slurred apology. In a moment, he had a plan.

Stooping down, Alpha put one arm under her knees, and the other under her arms, around her shoulder blades. Then, eliciting a squeal of surprise from Tali, he swept he up off of her feet, carrying her fairy-tale style as he threw her arms around his neck in an effort not to fall. Of course, Alpha could have easily prevented that himself, but he didn't mind.

Garrus chuckled, Wrex laughed, Jane giggled and John grinned, rolling his eyes and the little display. Kaidan and Ashley were already in transit to the Normandy. In the arms of the six-foot-eight cybernetic super-soldier, Tali looked even smaller than usual, standing at five-eight herself. It dawned on Alpha, as they took rapid-transit cars to the docks, that everyone had eaten everything that they had ordered, and therefore he had eaten nothing. He shrugged inwardly at the thought. He could just eat aboard the Normandy. Military rations tasted like shit, but it was something he had gotten used to after two years in the Alliance.


	3. Man and Machine

As he exited the elevator from the cargo bay, having been summoned by John Shepard for an "introduction to the team," Alpha Black mulled over in his mind the events of the previous day. This, of course, mainly revolved around the fact that Tali needed additional training, and that he needed to help her make time for such activity. As he approached the rest of the team by the sleeping pods, it was not lost on him that many crewmembers were ogling his new suit of specialized heavy armor. The plating was over an inch thick, with shoulder plates that extended straight up to neck height. On the right shoulder, the distinct blue and yellow symbol of the VEINS was visible. The armor itself would have weighed hundreds of pounds had it been made from conventional materials.

However, it was made from a specialized titanium alloy set on a carbon fiber frame, with the whole thing sitting on top of a Kevlar weave padded with top-of-the-line shock absorption padding. The plates themselves were put together like large scales, each one about the size of his hand save the two breastplate pieces, which together spanned his chest. Each limb was detachable from the rest of the suit, the torso opening up like a double door in the back to allow easy removal and quick suit-up. Ironically, Alpha had customized the suit so that he would never actually have to take it off, installing internal cleaning and waste disposal. Now, It was like a quarian's enviro-suit, but with a lot more armor.

"Line up here." Came the order from John, and the team did as such, lined up in front of the hallway containing the pods, facing the Mess. "You are all now on my ground team," the Commander began, Alpha noted that Jane stood by the back wall, watching the whole thing. "This means that you will follow my orders without question, and without hesitation. Black!" Alpha, already standing at attention, straightened.

"Why do you not hesitate to follow orders!?" Came the question, barked at the cybernetic as John shifted fully into drill instructor mode.

"To do so is to die, sir." Came the calm, clearly spoken answer. Shouting was unnecessary in Alpha's mind; everyone could hear his low, naturally loud voice clearly without it.

"Right! Now then, in the heat of combat, I will not have time to call you by your names. So, we will use codenames for the sake of speed and efficiency!" John walked to Wrex, on the end of the lineup. "Tank!" he shouted, and Wrex acknowledged this name as his codename. John walked down the line, repeating the process with the others. Garrus was "Hellion," Alpha was "Gears," Tali was "Bucket," Kaidan was "Burn", Ashley was just "Ash," which Alpha thought was odd, as this was her nickname already.

John continued to brief them on various topics, all of which Alpha had been taught during his first week in the VEINS. Because of this, he silently tuned out from the lecture to run a song through his head that he had heard one of the crewmembers playing. The name of the tune was "Piano Man" by a man by the name of Billy Joel. The song was well over 150 years old, but the cybernetic super-soldier actually found it somewhat enjoyable. He would have to perform a search on the extranet to find more songs by this man.

His train of thought was interrupted by a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. The moment he looked at it, though, time seemed to slow as Alpha's augmented brain switched into high gear; The unmistakable lights and disk-shape of a grenade. His mind raced, time seeming to freeze as he found and weighed his options. The explosive would land at Tali's feet, and everyone else could jump clear in time. But Tali would freeze, and even if she jumped away she would be caught in the blast. It was as that old saying went that he heard his old Alliance CO say all the time: "The blast radius of a grenade is always one foot longer than your leaping distance."

It took .012 seconds for Alpha to reach a conclusion. Precious time wasted on the fact that Tali had no real military training. Finally, his perception of time returned to normal as adrenaline pumped into his system.

"GRENADE!" Was all he shouted out, bellowing the single, feared word in a low, loud roar that almost made the floor shake. As he had predicted, the others leapt away to safety, but Tali froze, not knowing what to do. Luckily, Alpha knew exactly what to do. He threw himself on top of Tali, turning her around and crouching down, covering her with his body as a shield. His kinetic barriers flared, the bright blue easily visible as Alpha essentially created a stasis field out of his shields.

He waited for the blast to come, but after a matter of seconds realized that there was none. It clicked in his mind what was going on. He stood up from the shaking quarian beneath him, and whirled around to face John Shepard, the expression on his face telling Alpha all he needed to know; the grenade was a dud, a fake, and John had thrown it as a test. Alpha didn't bother to pick up the device, opting to speak his mind by holding out a hand above it, and letting the lighting of an overload shoot out from his outstretched hand to fry the thing into a piece of half-molten scrap.

While Alpha helped Tali to her feet, John took a step forward, getting right up in her face and shouting, "What were you thinking, Bucket!? If Gears hadn't been there, you would have been blown to bits! What do you h-"

He was cut off by Alpha putting a hand on his shoulder on his right. He began to turn, looking up at Alpha, but was cut short as Alpha delivered a crushing left hook to the Commander's jaw, sending him to the floor. The cybernetic then stood over John, pointing a finger at him accusingly as he spoke, fire in his normally cool voice, "To Hell with you!" He shouted. _Now_ it was necessary.

"Tali'Zorah had received no proper training! She has yet to even hold a gun, let alone handle react to a thrown _grenade_! If you want to subject your subordinates to unrealistic expectations, then scare them shitless for not having the proper experience, then I have half a mind to send you to the sick bay for a _week_!"

John leapt to his feet, jabbing an accusing finger against Alpha's chest, "Know your place, _Lieutenant_! Make another move like that and I'll have you _spaced_!"

Alpha simply scoffed in return, turning on his heel as he said, "It might be mildly amusing to watch you try to even move me half a _meter_, let alone out an airlock."

As he walked to the elevator, he called over his shoulder, "Tali'Zorah, training will begin after you are done in Engineering. I will be in the cargo bay maintaining my equipment." He did not look to see Tali nod stiffly in confirmation. He was confident that she would not refuse his offer.

* * *

After her shift in Engineering, Tali did, in fact, pay a visit to Alpha to see exactly what "training" meant to him. What she found was the super-soldier hand-loading ballistic rounds for the single revolver that he had used to threaten team Shepard back in the Wards. He was listening to a song that had something to do with a "Piano Man," whatever that was. At her approach, Alpha set aside his loading tools and stood up from his seat on the cargo crates. He nodded a welcome, and gestured to a makeshift shooting range comprised of a single target on a large rectangular cloth.

As she approached the shooting line, Alpha drew the revolver on her, pointing it squarely at her chest. Tali took a step back, confused as to what was happening. But when Alpha tossed the gun into the air, flipping it over to hold the butt of the weapon towards her, she realized that he was handing it to her. "That's a strange way to hand someone a gun," she commented.

Alpha shrugged as she took the revolver, "It gauges your reaction to having a weapon aimed at you."

People started to gather around as Alpha took up position behind Tali, beginning the training process. it was obvious that he was ignoring them.

"That is a customized .357 Magnum double-action revolver," he instructed, drawing one of his pistols to demonstrate proper stance, "Primitive when compared to modern weapons, but it delivers hard, steady, reliable firepower. This is no Predator; The recoil is immense to those not used to it."

He took the proper firing stance and Tali did her best to mirror it. "Like this?" she asked.

Alpha spared her a glance and nodded, "Close enough. Now, to fire a weapon like this, you must squeeze, not pull. This helps dampen the effects of recoil. You have six shots maximum, and reloading takes practice to be fast, so make them count."

Tali nodded, and squeezed hard on the trigger. The gun kicked back in her hands, hard enough that she almost dropped it. Tali staggered for a moment, the shock from the unexpected recoil wearing off quickly. Alpha gave a sigh. She had missed the target entirely.

"Here," he said, not wanting to waste time on trying to describe how to position oneself. He moved behind Tali, and lifted her up slightly, causing her to give a small squeak of surprise. He set her down, standing with her heels on top of his armored boots. Alpha grabbed the backs of her hands, matching their elbows and knees together to almost puppet her to get her into the proper practice stance. Adaptation for combat could come later.

Tali, on the other hand, was having trouble breathing with the giant cybernetic pressing her to him. She could hear the snickers and whispers of the small crowd of crewmembers, making her glad that no one could see her face turn red beneath her mask. Then she heard Alpha whisper calmly into her audio receptor, "Now, take aim and squeeze."

She did so, lining up the sights and squeezing on the trigger, and this time the practice slug sailed right through the center of the head of the target. Alpha backed away and Tali immediately turned to face him, asking, "How did I do?" She knew full well that that had been an excellent shot, but she wanted to cover up her embarrassment.

Alpha clapped his hands together, and Tali hadn't known better, she would have thought he was smiling beneath that visor of his. "Excellent!" He stated almost enthusiastically, "I look forward to teaching you adaptations of this stance for application in combat."

Then there was a particularly loud snort from Ashley Williams. In response, Alpha turned his head to look at her, and with his right hand produced his pistol and fired eight rounds in rapid succession into the target, still looking 170 degrees away from it and directly at Ashley. He then walked silently to the cloth, pulled it from its clamp on the makeshift frame, and brought it right back to the group, shoving it right in their faces.

He had shot a perfect X using Tali's shot as a center point. The message was clear. People didn't make fun of the two after that. Alpha spoke anyway, his voice a low growl.

"I plan to teach her to shoot like _that_ with time. Don't be a target."

When Alpha turned back to Tali, she tried to hand him his gun back. "Here, you can have this back until next time," she explained, but Alpha held up a hand to stop her.

"No," he said sternly, handing her a holster and ammunition, "keep the gun. It has seen enough action from me. It has killed much evil over my fourteen years of life. Now it is your turn to wield it. Besides, you use it well. Its accuracy and medium-range capabilities will compliment your shotgun nicely."

Tali accepted the gifts, knowing better than to argue with Alpha. She remembered the standard-issue shotgun that she had been given. It was one of few weapons she already knew how to use. Then a thought struck her.

"You're only fourteen?"

Alpha nodded. "Chronologically. Physically, my organic body is that of a man ten years more. My mind is far more capable than any human."

Tali nodded in return, "And since when does an AI care about 'killing evil' and 'taking turns'?"

Alpha just shrugged and went back to his loading and music on the crates. Tali thought carefully about the implications of the lack of a response to that question.

"_It would explain his weird behavior,_" she thought carefully on her way to her sleeping pod, "_no, it couldn't be... unless..._"

She fell asleep thinking it over. Was Alpha really an AI, or just claiming to be? What would he gain from lying about it? Unless, she realized as she drifted off to sleep, he really believed that he was.

* * *

**A/N: ****Howdy, Vindicator Vagabond here, and I suppose a few explanations are in order. First, I realize now that the prospect of the VEINS may be deterring a few people, so I would like to explain what they are. They are an inserted splinter faction, based on a theoretical civilization of mine. The cover image is the symbol mentioned, to those who were wondering. They are on par with Cerberus from ME2 and 3, for a frame of reference, but their ideals are centered around the unity of all species to create the ultimate utopia out of the Milky Way. Ambitious, to say the least, and basically impossible in reality. Essentially, the VEINS is an _original_ faction, therefore making this whole thing not a crossover, and they are mainly used as a vessel to explain Alpha's seemingly limitless resources and to help integrate him into the world of Mass Effect.**

**Really, this story is both an insert of an OC and an original faction. While the VEINS will almost certainly show up in any non-ME stories that I do (which I am confident I eventually will), here it is its own separate faction and with a backstory that fits the universe of Mass Effect. Think of it as one of the many VEINS AU's, of sorts. So _please_ don't overreact to such a large change; I promise you that the ME storyline won't be altered by the VEINS but for minor plot points, most of them revolving around Alpha.**

**As promised, this chapter and those coming are longer. The first two were just too dang short, weren't they? Funny coincidence that together they make a wordcount of 3000 even.**


	4. Old Friends

The airlock opened, and the humid air of the planet Feros flooded into the chamber. Alpha had already been briefed on the mission; save the colonists, kill geth and move out. Simple in principle, but as he heard gunfire in the distance he knew that nothing was ever simple. He, however planned to make things much simpler, as he sneered inside his helmet and cracked his knuckles.

He shouldered his way past a colonist who tried to stop and talk to him. John could handle the talking. They held his contract for one purpose: Killing. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the flash of the silver metal of a Geth Trooper. His hands moved on pure instinct, drawing his custom-built ballistic pistols, designed after the old Heckler & Koch P30, with mass effect coils in the barrel for greatly increased firepower. Effective, deadly, and expensive as Hell.

His weapon of choice spat several lead projectiles, punching into the geth trooper and ripping through its internal systems. The air, choked with dust, stung slightly at his throat. He quickly realized that he needed to regulate his breathing as to prevent his windpipe from drying out and getting caked with the airborne particles. Alpha noted, as he ran along the walkway, gunning down geth with practiced ease, that the air tasted odd. He passed this off as a result of the humidity and dust.

The rest of the team quickly caught up with him, helping in the steady advance. Soon enough, they reached a stairwell, and Alpha's enhanced senses picked up movement by the walls. He froze, holding out a hand in the "hold position" signal. Of course, John Shepard was not keen on following orders from one of his subordinates, so naturally he moved up while the others wisely followed the cybernetic ultra-engineer's instincts. Tali, inexperienced as she was, followed her Commander.

Tali never saw the Geth Hopper coming. The thin, flexible form of the alien machine came zipping down from above for the dive-bomb attack, probably hoping to do some damage from behind. Alpha had other plans. His mind switched into augmented overdrive, time seeming to slow as his right hand moved to the knife sheathed on his left shoulder. The calculations ran through his cybernetic brain as trajectories lined up in his HUD, and his fingers dexterously flipped the combat knife as to pinch the end of the steel blade.

His mind snapped back into normal speed as the weighted melee weapon left his hand. The sheer flight speed of the knife gave it enough momentum to knock the Hopper out of the air, sending it crashing to the floor ahead of John and Tali. The quarian gave a small yelp of surprise, taking a frantic step back only to stumble and fall backwards down the stairs.

Alpha simply stuck out a hand as he advanced, catching and steadying her as he said, "Next time, I would advise trusting the AI with a much more advanced sensory suite than either of you."

John gave a grudging nod, while Tali thanked Alpha quietly. Alpha, not understanding the purpose of the near-silent tone of her gratitude, responded coolly, "You are welcome, Tali'Zorah. I would rather you _not_ be killed by stairs. Or at all."

Tali shrunk shyly away at this blunt, audibly obvious response. Alpha saw saving her life from a geth ambush as just part of the job. That, and the fact that he saw saving her from an embarrassing fall as a perfectly ignorable event, made her uncomfortable. The cyber-centurion, however, was oblivious to this as it held no tactical purpose.

Quickly, they came across a few makeshift barricades, human colonists armed with low-end assault rifles using them for cover to defend against the geth. It was then that a geth Rocket Trooper decided to attempt to take a pot shot at Alpha while it thought he wasn't looking. However, with the loud, distinct _crack_ of a sniper rifle, Garrus quite literally shot down that plan before the geth unit could fire its payload.

With a thankful thumbs-up, Alpha headed into the colony proper to see what was what. Almost immediately, however, John had spoken to the local leader, the name of whom Alpha didn't bother to learn. Then, as he was heading to the Mako as per his orders, he heard a voice that he had not heard in years.

"Well, howdy partner, good to see you again," Alpha turned to see Richard, a VEINS Tactical Recon operative, and probably the most stereotypical southerner that one could realistically get in that day and age. "And might I say you are looking fine as ever."

"Richard, what are you doing here?" Alpha asked, legitimately confused as to why his former teammate was on Feros, and wearing full TacRec gear complete with air filtration mask. Of course, the man was wearing the thing around his neck instead of on his mouth and nose.

Richard laughed, "Well, the same as you, I reckon; Save a colony and kill some damn robots!" The man's signature ever-present smile said that he was not angry about the geth, but rather just taking their recent sudden appearance in stride. He then surveyed team Shepard, appraising each member.

He started with Garrus, "Turian, good to see another one working with humans," he then moved to Wrex, "Ooh, a krogan, rare even in the VEINS, great to see they're branching out."

Wrex huffed loudly. "We're not."

Jane stepped in, "He's a bounty hunter. Not your average krogan."

Richard nodded, "Got it."

"I'm-"

"Commander Jane Shepard of the Systems Alliance Navy. And that's your twin brother, John." Richard finished for her, smile broadening as he spoke.

"You know us?" was the question John asked, allowing this reunion to go down before heading to the Mako.

Richard nodded confidently. "Absolutely! Alongside Ashley Williams and Kaidan Alenko, hello to both of you, by the way," he gave a polite nod to the both of them, "you tanned some geth hide on Eden Prime! And hoo-boy, that set fire to the info network!"

Richard then turned to Tali, his eyes widening ever so slightly. He then broke into the biggest grin yet, saying, "Hey there, Scrapper, and just who might you be to serve with such soldiers?"

"This is Tali'Zorah nar Rayya," Alpha stepped in on her behalf, letting the overwhelmed quarian process everything, "she is a skilled engineer and my current protégé."

Richard nodded acknowledgement, "Well it is an absolute _pleasure_ to meet you, Miss Zorah, and what a teacher you have! I am Richard Wallace, but you can call me Rick. All my friends call me that. Except Alpha, but that's because he's Alpha."

"Just Tali, Rick, but thanks." Tali managed to say, gathering her bearings once again.

Richard nodded happily. He then looked past them towards the M-35 Mako. Turning to Alpha, "You folks want some fire support?" He jerked a thumb over his shoulder, "Our dropship took a beating from a geth Colossus, but we have an old Mako that hasn't been touched yet this mission."

John crossed his arms over his chest defensively. "The M-35 Mako is not 'old' thank you very much."

The TacRec soldier put up his hands apologetically, "No, no. Not the model, but the tank _itself_ is old. Ol' girl's seen maybe five years of action now."

Now Kaidan spoke up, "Wait, you guys have a five year old Mako? Since when do they last that long?"

"Since Rocky came around to fix 'em is when! Kid's got a talent like I've never seen for anything with moving parts."

John decided that now was a good time to end the conversation. "Alright, everyone, I know that this enjoyable banter, but we need to head out now." He gestured to Richard, "Take your team and meet us here, then we'll move out together."

Richard readily agreed, running off to do just that. In a few mere minutes, the VEINS black Mako tank was positioned right next to the Normandy's own land vehicle, identical but for the paint job.

Alpha and Tali joined the TacRec team in their tank for the period of transit. The human cybernetic drove the vehicle with a human woman at the guns, while Tali sat with Richard and a black-clad quarian man in the personnel area.

The quarian man was the "Rocky" mentioned earlier by Richard. He expertly avoided revealing his real name, saying that he was "used to responding to Rocky."

Evidently, on his first mission, Rocky had, in dire straits, bashed in the head of a charging krogan by sidestepping him at the last moment, then swinging a small boulder into him with all his might, using his opponent's momentum against him. The use of a rock to kill a krogan earned him a place in the Tactical Recon division and the nickname "Rocky."

"Rocky's the only scrapper that's been able to make it into TacRec, and the only one who actually wanted to when given the chance." Richard explained.

The Mako shook as Alpha ran over a small geth barricade, eliciting a whoop of delight from the woman in the gunner's seat.

Tali raised her hand to ask a question before the subject of conversation was changed. Rocky caught this and said in an ironically gravelly voice, "I believe Young Tali here has a question."

"Two, actually," Tali said, lowering her hand, "First, why do you call us 'scrappers,' Rick? I mean, being called 'suit-rat' is degrading enou-"

She was cut off by Richard suddenly lunging forward, putting one hand on her shoulder in an almost painfully tight grip, and saying darkly, "_Never_ say that word again, 'hear? That is a term coined by humans years ago and if I could, I would go back and murder the Hell out of whoever said it first."

Tali nodded frantically. Richard then leaned back, returning to his relaxed, friendly attitude. "Sorry, I just hate those derogatory terms. All races are equal on all levels except physical. And that's just because of the krogan. I get... sensitive about racism." He breathed deeply, and continued, "But, to answer your question, 'scrapper' is just a slang term in the VEINS for 'quarian.' It's 'cause of the fact that you guys are absolute scrap wizards. It's meant to be more... endearing than anything else. Also it rolls off the tongue much nicer than 'quarian' does."

Rocky picked up the explanation from there, "It's like when humans call each other 'dude,' but species-specific. Nothing demeaning or racist, just easy slang terminology. Don't expect that from me, though. You said you had a second question?"

"Yes," Tali gestured toward the symbol on Alpha's shoulder plate, "What exactly is the VEINS? And who is this 'Founder' person that I've heard about?"

Richard launched into a lengthy explanation as to the former, and Alpha called over his shoulder, "I'll send you a dossier, Tali'Zorah. We're almost there," to answer the latter.

Rick leaned in, saying quietly, "I'll tell you now that he's our leader, the supreme commander of everything in the VEINS. Rumor has it only a handful of men and women have ever spoken to him directly. I know I haven't, but our friend there," he cocked his head towards Alpha in the pilot's chair, "he has. Answers directly to him, earning him the rank of 'Hand of the Founder.'"

It took a matter of hours to reach ExoGeni and complete the unraveling missions there. Upon return to the makeshift camp made by the employees, the mutiny was cut short by a quick burst of gunfire from Alpha, who grunted, "Stupid, just stupid," even as the body dropped to the floor.

The discovery of the Thorian was shocking to both teams, but of course Alpha simply picked up an assault rifle an muttered, "Bullets kill plants too." To him, the whole ordeal had been just a bunch of indiscriminate shooting.

On the drive back to the colony, however, the geth tried one last desperate assault against the two Mako tanks.

While the Shepard Mako, driven by John, virtually floundered about like a steel whale out of water. It was obvious that Garrus was trying his best to compensate in the gunner's seat, by the frantic movement of the turret to track targets.

Meanwhile, Alpha piloted the TacRec Mako as best he could, using the jump jets to slam down larger geth units, while relying on his gunner for fire support for the _really_ big ones, like a Colossus. However, a well-placed lucky shot from a rocket trooper hit home, the blast rocking the Mako, and killing the female gunner with a blood-curdling death cry.

Her burned corpse fell out of the gunner's seat, landing in the walkway in the seating area. Alpha grunted in pain for whatever reason, climbing out of the driver's seat and barking, "Gunner's down and the weapon's fried! Rocky, take the wheel! Richard, keep Tali'Zorah safe!"

"Great, that's gonna take _forever_ to repair!" Rocky complained as he climbed into the driver's seat and Alpha skirted around him to reach the exit hatch. The elite human soldier kicked the hatch open, and swung out expertly up onto the roof of the Mako. Tali looked out the front viewport to see what the fuss was about, to spot a fast-approaching Colossus.

Alpha was going to try to take that thing down on his own!

* * *

**A/N: I'm a slacky slacker! I've been putting this off for a while for no better reason than I'm lazy. But now I'm back on track and I'm doing a cliffhanger, oh boy! Don't worry, the next chapter will pick up right where this one leaves off, it's just that I had to split it into two chapters to maintain some kind of semi-uniform chapter length.**

**Chapter 5 is already underway, so expect it to come out soon! I am not going to leave Alpha Logs behind until the series is done! I'm just a procrastinator. This long wait should not become a regular thing.**


	5. Not Invincible

Alpha swung out of the exit hatch of the Mako, flipping up onto the top of the tank and using his mag-boots to hold his footing. Over comms, he heard the voice of Garrus Vakarian.

"Gears, this is Hellion. What the Hell do you think you're doing!?"

It occurred to Alpha that Garrus would be able to see him, being Normandy's Mako's gunner. He simply reached back and grabbed his axe, extending the weapon and pointing quickly at the fast approaching geth Colossus, knowing Garrus would be able to decipher the simple gesture.

He then contacted Rocky in the driver's seat.

"Agent Rocky, on my signal, raise and stop the M-35!"

"WHAT!?" was the shocked response, "Stop the Mako!? Are you fucking CRAZY!?" Rocky had picked up quite a few... choice human words over his time in TacRec.

"ABSOLUTELY!" Alpha shouted confirmation of his mental state over the wind whipping past as the Mako accelerated to its target.

Tali radioed him. "Alpha, that's a Colossus! What are you thinking?"

Taking a deep breath, Alpha closed his eyes for a moment. His mind, for some reason, flickered back to the memory of Tali, on the Citadel, nearly pass-out drunk. How she curled up in his arms, how she slung her arms around his neck for added support. How he had sworn to himself then that he would train her in combat. A small smile reached his face, and he opened his eyes to focus on the mission ahead. If only she knew where he had learned this from. It was good that she didn't.

He drew his pistol, and fired five quick shots at the approaching Colossus. The high-powered ballistic rounds bounced off the powerful shields, but in doing so weakened them just enough for Alpha's next move. He holstered his pistol, and drew another deep breath in preparation for the upcoming maneuver. Gripping his trench hawk tightly, he shifted into a stance to gain better purchase for leaping.

Just when it seemed that they were going to ram the enormous geth unit, Alpha shouted into his radio for Rocky to go ahead. The quarian elite soldier followed through flawlessly, using the jump thrusters on the underside of the Mako to send it into the air, while simultaneously tilting the whole tank backwards, sending the front end up and bringing the vehicle to a halt.

Alpha used this combined forward and upward momentum to launch himself up and right at the head of the Colossus. Using the pointed head of the trench hawk, he came down hard on the top of the head, piercing through the weakened shields and digging into the metal beneath. Using his momentum, he swung around to the back of the neck, keeping an iron grip on the end of the weapon.

His mag-boots activated with but a single mental command, anchoring him behind the head of the mechanical beast. Pulling hard on the axe, he reared the thing back so that its "face" pointed upward. Gritting his teeth, he yanked his knife from the sheath on his left shoulder. With his right hand holding the trench hawk, and his left wielding the ten-inch combat knife, he raised the smaller blade above his head, and saw what he had been waiting for: The weapon was charging a shot.

"Hurt my people, will you? Die, machine." He muttered as he smashed his knife down into the lens, causing the entire head to erupt in a blast of charged energy. Alpha was sent flying, tumbling through the air and landing with a painful _thud_ as he bounced, slid and rolled to a halt.

For a moment, he just lay there, eyes closed, blood trickling down the interior of his armor. The blast had downed his shields and the shockwave had caused the now bleeding wounds. Luckily, the majority of the damage sustained by his armor was from the fall and resulting tumble. His mouth tasted of copper, and his ears were ringing loudly. It was only now that Alpha realized that he had never done anything like that before. His eyes' HUD flashed at him a warning; his left knee was dislocated in the fall and needed to be reset.

"_All this technology put into my body, and they couldn't have just reinforced my_ _skeleton?_" Was his first thought. His second was to open his eyes.

He saw the black Mako pull up next to him, and he could hear that of Normandy pulling around front to ward off oncoming enemy attacks. Richard swung acrobatically out of the hatch as Tali clambered out behind him. Richard used his Omni-tool to scan Alpha even as the super-soldier sat up, grunting in pain as his abdominal injuries flare from the movement.

The Tactical Recon Unit Leader put a hand on Alpha's soldier. "Oh, no, you ain't going anywhere. Just a _preliminary_ scan shows that your right knee's dislocated, and you have sixteen fractured ribs. Two of which are broken, mind you. Your other bones ain't doing so hot either."

Alpha's response was to clench his jaw, grab his lower leg with both hands, and pull hard, resetting his joint with an audible, gross _snap_. He then flexed the joint a few times to test for signs of an improper reset. Feeling none, he flipped over and used his arms to throw himself into a standing position. Just in time for him to hear John in his ear, shouting, "They're targeting the Mako! We need to move-" He was cut off by an Armature firing a shot into some particularly volatile containers right in front of the tank. John was never the best driver, nor the best tactician.

The resulting blast actually sent the Mako flying towards the three members of the team, still on foot. Richard dove out of the way, Tali instinctively ducked, while Alpha stood fast, sending a surge of power to his muscular system augments. The white tank came down at an angle, almost upside-down. Alpha raised his arms, and caught the massive vehicle.

The weight of the tank was immense, and Alpha's systems were overclocking just to keep him from being crushed. His already damaged bones shrieking with pain, his knee groaning beneath the weight. Gritting his teeth, he pushed hard against the weight, using its lateral momentum to turn and throw it, flipping it back over as he did so. The tank came down with a huge _crash_.

There was an explosion from the direction of the geth forces, and everyone turned to look. Where an Armature once stood, there now lay a pile of scrap metal. From the hatch of the VEINS Mako, Rocky was leaning out with a now-empty rocket launcher on his shoulder. "I. HATE. Geth." He muttered.

Tali stood up, shock and awe showing in her eyes as she turned to Alpha, "Did... Did y-you just... _catch_ a _flying Mako__!?_"

Richard was already on his feet and checking Tali for injuries. "And threw it, no less. Count on ol' Alph to never run out of surprises."

"You're not surprised at this?" Asked Tali as Richard finished quickly, his scans showing nothing wrong.

"Nope," he responded, "Well, this was unexpected, sure, but I've served with, even served under the guy. I've learned never to assume that Alpha Black has no more tricks up his armored sleeves."

The topic of conversation found himself absentmindedly clambering into the Mako, and falling into a seat, letting his overstrained body rest for a minute. Alpha could hear Richard and John arguing outside, no doubt about his recent stunts. But he couldn't stop the embrace of darkness as his subconscious forced unconsciousness onto him to allow his body to heal.

He was already out when Tali and Richard came back in, and Rocky continued their drive, Mako Normandy taking the lead, still possessing a working cannon. As they took their seats, Richard patted Alpha on the shoulder, saying softly, "Good work, pal." Tali looked at him, and he smiled warmly. "He's earned a little rest, dont'cha think?"

Tali took a seat next to Alpha, and rested her head on his shoulder, eyes wide open. He was warm. She could feel it through her suit and his armor.

Alpha leapt out of the Mako to be greeted by the sound of gunfire. Behind makeshift barricades were the colonists, firing at a man taking cover by the bay door, clad in heavy Black armor.

He had been briefed on the fact that the colonists were being controlled by the Thorian, a massive sentient plant below the colony of Zhu's Hope. He stormed the colonists, delivering punishing, but nonlethal, punches to each of them before everyone got situated and the new addition stood up and ran over, giving a quick salute and speaking clearly, "Alpha Black, sir? It's an honor. Is there anything you need from me?"

"Your name would be a start."

"Medina, sir. Holden Medina, Enforcer for this Tactical Reconnaissance team."

Alpha nodded. "Well met, Enforcer Medina. I assume Richard briefed you over comms?" Holden nodded. The boy was short, standing at a mere five feet, but that would only make him a harder target to hit, boosting his effectiveness.

On the way to the colony proper, it was revealed that Enforcer Medina was still a rookie, and that this was his first real mission. Richard gave him a light machine gun loaded with heavy rubber rounds, and the green Enforcer sent to the ground each colonist he came across, landing several shots each to knock them out.

Eventually, they reached the controls needed to open the path to the Thorian. The colonists' leader, Fai Dan, retained enough control over himself to attempt to shoot himself, but Alpha threw his knife at him, the grip of the weapon landing hard against the man's forehead, knocking him out. Then the final wave of geth arrived, opening fire on sight of the two teams.

"GO!" Shouted Richard, firing his assault rifle at the geth troops. Rocky and Holden joined in, the enforcer shifting to the use of two submachineguns. As they rushed into the chamber, Richard tossed Alpha a pack of remote explosives, all of which were clearly modified to pack more of an incendiary effect than a blast. However, before anyone else could enter behind John and himself, always being the first two to enter a hostile environment, the entryway fell shut behind him. A geth soldier must have shot the controls. Alpha could hear Wrex on the other side, pounding on the steel plates of the freighter.

"Alpha, John, hold on! We'll get the way open!" Came Jane's voice over comms.

"Negative." he said coldly, trudging down into the chamber determinedly, and when John looked at him, he explained, "I have a mission, Commander, and I fully intend on completing it."

They pressed on, gunning down creepers with ease, crushing their heads with intense blows when he felt like getting close. The Thorian itself tried to speak to them through some kind of... green asari? Alpha cared not, for when the thing began to act in a hostile manner, he shot her twice in the head with his new rifle, killing her instantly. The two men proceeded to fight through waves of creepers and asari clones, and whenever they found what looked like a weak spot, Alpha planted an incendiary.

At last, they came across the real asari, who gave John a "cypher" and left with him. Alpha, however, was biotically thrown off of the ledge by a clone, where he landed on the main platform below. The detonator fell into the depths. He radioed John, "Commander, get the asari out of here and to safety! And ensure no one come down here until the plant is cleansed!"

He grunted the last word as a searing pain suddenly shot through his body, and he began to shake uncontrollably. His hands began to crackle with electricity, and Alpha realized that the Thorian was attempting to control him. His implants were preventing him from even hearing the orders.

His eyes flared up as his overcharges reached peak potency. He knew full well that this would easily trigger the bombs. As the horde of creepers bore down on him, two words escaped Alpha's mouth: "Burn, bitch." With that, he released the lightning, and the firebombs detonated, filling the room with a rapidly expanding substance similar to napalm.

The Thorian gave a blood-curdling death cry, and fell into the depths of the chamber, burning up as it fell. Alpha felt the heat hit him like a sucker punch, and within seconds, it was over. He didn't need his HUD to tell him that he had been cooked inside his armor. He didn't even bother fighting unconsciousness this time.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, this time the delay was actually because of work and family plans. And with school just around the corner, and myself being a student, this might (sadly) become the norm for a while. However, this does not mean that I have given up! I will continue to write when I can, and keep getting new chapters out!**

**This one finished a little quick, I know, but I didn't want to split Feros into three chapters. In fact, I plan on most missions being a maximum of one chapter from here on out with the possible exception of major story missions. Expect more one the way!**

**And, no, he's not dead.**


	6. Changing Gears

_"Hey, leave her alone," he shouted, "she didn't do anything!" He stood between the younger girl and the hulking samurai, his face defiant._

_Jackson Forlorn, a huge man clad in samurai-style armor, and their trainer, looked down at him and sneered. He raised his katana, and slashed down, cutting the boy's arm clean off at the shoulder. "She has disobeyed me, as have you. Consider this a mercy, stupid boy."_

_He cried out in pain, falling to his knees and clutching his stump of a shoulder, now bleeding profusely. He was the oldest and the strongest of the children, and yet he fell so easily. He didn't even bother to look at Samurai beheading the girl, he knew what it looked like from the other killings. Without thinking, he stood up and stumbled down the corridor. He burst through the laboratory door, shouting, "Mom! Mom, help me, please!"_

_His mother rushed to him, and upon seeing his wound picked him up and laid him down on an operating table. She then retrieved a prototype synthetic arm, and pressed it against his wound, still gushing blood. "The arm will need a moment to attach and link to your nervous system. After that, it will grow with you and regenerate itself from any damage."_

_"Will it hurt?" he asked, fear clawing at the inside of his chest._

_"Absolutely."_

_Then the metal fused to flesh, and the surge of electricity sent waves of unbearable pain through his body. His screams could be heard echoing throughout the facility._

""""""

"What's wrong with him?" John asked impatiently, leaning against the wall of the sick bay.

"I don't know," Karin Chakwas responded gravely, "his vital signs are strong, but he just won't wake up. And it seems that his right arm is... disconnected from his nervous system? It seems to be synthetic. Even beside that, his physiology is like nothing I've ever seen."

Alpha lay unconscious beneath a white sheet, his head exposed but concealed beneath a mask. Chakwas was keen on ensuring no one saw his face but for herself, as per his request on his first day on Normandy. After the last mission, Alpha had cooked himself inside his armor and passed out as a result. Wrex had carried him back to the ship and plopped him down in the sick bay.

Tali was hard at work next to Alpha's unconscious form, tinkering with the synthetic arm in an effort to reconnect it. The current theory was that this disconnection was related to his coma. However, Tali was having no luck with reparations. She looked up and over at the doctor. "To borrow the human term, I can't make heads or tails of this arm. It looks like a mechanical replica of an organic arm, but far more sophisticated."

Suddenly, Alpha tensed up, and began to shake violently, grunting in pain. Chakwas lunged over to the medical displays, "Not a heart attack, though his heart rate has spiked! He's going into some kind of seizure!"

The cybernetic man then roared loudly, shooting upright in the cot. Tali shrieked in surprise, recoiling in fear. John lunged forward, taking a wide swing at Alpha's head. He blocked reflexively, using his now-active right arm to stop the blow, then without stopping moved in with his left to deliver a devastating punch to the solar plexus.

But logical thinking kicked in just before impact, and Alpha stopped just short of giving his commander a trip to the very sick bay he found himself in. John nodded, "He's fine."

Picking Tali up off the floor, he turned and walked out the door, leading the stunned quarian out with him. He called over his shoulder, "We're heading to Therum. ETA two hours. Be ready by then, Gears." The door hissed shut behind them, leaving an out-of-breath Doctor Chakwas and one slightly disoriented Alpha Black in the sick bay.

After a moment of silence, Alpha stepped off the cot and found his armor waiting for him next to it. As he fitted the newly cleaned and repaired suit to his body, he turned his head to the Doctor.

"How long was I out?"

Chakwas collected herself, regaining her composure before answering, "Three hours. Your wounds were severe, and of what I heard you should have died from more than just that. First off, I can professionally advise that you _never_ catch an M-35 under _any_ circumstances, let alone with a compromised skeletal structure. It's a wonder you weren't turned into a cybernetic pancake."

Alpha shrugged indifferently. "If I had not, then both Tali'Zorah and myself would have been crushed. The additional injuries that the ground team would have sustained would have been unacceptable. My mission is to fight on behalf of Normandy, and when the situation calls for it, protect my fellow soldiers."

Chakwas pinched the bridge of her nose, smirking slightly at the total lack of a sense of self-preservation that Alpha exhibited. "Well, then there's the fact that afterwards you decided it was a good idea to turn your armor into a deep fryer. And before any of that, you reset your knee without any proper medical equipment."

Alpha waved this off dismissively, "My skeleton is not reinforced, leading to the skeletal damage. The Galahad armor is outfitted with an integrated temperature control system, allowing for the wearer to survive in the most extreme conditions. The fire was a necessary measure to kill the plant; It was naturally flammable."

The Doctor pointed a finger at Alpha, cocking an eyebrow, "It's that armor that prevented you from being crushed by a certain flying Mako, Lieutenant Commander. Your body heals remarkably quickly, but you're not invincible. Keep that up, and one day your luck will run out and the Mako will crush you."

He shrugged. "I don't need luck. Luck is for gamblers, and I don't gamble. Ever." He went to the door, "And when that day comes, Doctor, I will have allies such as yourself to repair me."

In the cargo bay, Alpha could take the time to be alone for a time. The rest of the ground team was being briefed on the coming mission, but Alpha had already downloaded the necessary information. Picking up his pistols, he noticed a package marked with his name. He heard the quartermaster call to him, "Oh, yeah, that package came for you while you were out, so I just put it by your things."

He used his knife to tear open the box, and was pleasantly surprised to see what was held within. Out of the box he pulled a large .44 Magnum caliber revolver, fitted with a bull barrel and a thin, inch-long curved blade protruding from the rear of the underside of the grip. The grip itself was made from a fine leather, molded to the frame with neat grooves for his fingers and thumb. There was a note at the bottom of the box.

It read, "_To my right hand, I bestow one of my most prized relics of the old world. To Alpha, I give a new tool with which to do some real damage. This old thing was mine during my time doing field work. Richard told me about your exploits on Feros, and I couldn't be more proud. The armor is working well, then? Either way, this gun has put down many terrible men of my time, from tyrants to drug lords. I figured it was time to let it see some more action, and who better than my most trusted agent to fulfill this goal? Kick some ass, you crazy bastard. -VV_"

The Founder was many things, but formal was not one of them. Alpha turned the weapon over in his hands, testing how it felt in his hands and finding its weight and balance. It was a very nice weapon. Custom to be sure, and just his style. He pulled the holster and ammo belt from the small crate and strapped them on, noting the ammunition on the piece. High-velocity, armor piercing, just the way he liked it.

He holstered the weapons, strapping on an assault rifle and shotgun for extra insurance. He would not be caught unprepared again. His knife slid into the sheath, and the trench hawk clicked into place behind his waist. The elevator hissed open, and Wrex, Tali, Garrus and Ashley walked out and all headed to their respective stations. All, that is, but for Tali, who made her way to Alpha to partake in some last-minute training exercises before the mission.

This time, the lesson was close-quarters combat. Alpha had, of course, set up a makeshift dummy to practice on. He went over basic punches and kicks, then after Tali got the hang of hitting her target without hurting her wrist, they moved to the use of knives. Slashes, stabs, defensive and offensive stances, and finally how to shoot while holding a knife. Tali learned fast, following Alpha's movements and patiently correcting her mistakes. Then Wrex got bored of just watching.

"Alright," he barked, hopping down from his seat on the crates and lumbering over, "If you're so good at this, human, I'd like to see you try to beat ME!" He thumped his chest, punctuating the nature of the challenge. Alpha looked at Tali, as if to ask for permission to cut their lesson short. She nodded, and he stowed his weapons, moving to the clearer center of the cargo bay, taking up a fighting stance and waiting for the others to form a ring of observers around them.

"Let this be a live-fire lesson in CQC, Tali'Zorah. I trust you will pay attention regardless." Wrex roared, and the two fighters engaged in combat. Wrex charged right off the bat, and Alpha, rather than sidestep the easily-dodged move, hunkered down and pushed against the charging mass of krogan, flipping the bounty hunter over his shoulder and spinning on the spot as to face his opponent.

"When you're opponent is bigger and stronger than you," Alpha called out, giving lessons to his observing student even as he fought, "You must be faster. Smarter." This was rather ironic, as Alpha himself was actually just as big, and possibly stronger than, Urdnot Wrex. He was giving advice tailored for Tali, not himself.

Wrex bellowed out in rage, leaping up off the floor and swinging hard at the distracted Alpha. Blow connected, the krogan's meaty fist knocking hard against Alpha's head. The super-soldier, while knocked back by sheer momentum, hardly flinched otherwise. He then growled lowly, "Lesson. Over."

He gave a bloodcurdling cry of rage, and launched himself at his adversary. Alpha's right fist came down hard on Wrex's midsection, stunning him. his left swung across and clocked him hard across the jaw. He then headbutted Wrex, knocking him back, and grabbed him with both hands, twisting to the right and throwing him, sending him tumbling across the ring. He then jumped up and dropped his elbow down hard on Wrex's head, sending him to the floor.

Alpha sprung to his feet, placing a boot on his opponent's back and shouting, "Concede!" Wrex, knowing when he was beaten, did just that.

Alpha then made a complete behavioral one-eighty, helping the krogan to his feet and scanning him for injuries. In the end, it was just bruises and minor fractures. They would heal before the mission began.

"You fight well, human," Wrex said, grinning, "Next time, I won't underestimate you."

The corner of Alpha's mouth twitched. "A hard feat. You, too, fight well, Urdnot Wrex. Perhaps next time you will bring help."

The elevator opened, and Jane poked her head out. Seeing the aftermath of the fight, she said loudly, "We're going planet-side in one hour, boys. Try not to kill each other until then."

Wrex laughed, and the small crowd dispersed. Tali was watching Alpha with interest. He had ended the fight rather quickly, hadn't he? And why would an AI care about helping Wrex to his feet? Or, more prominently, how would an AI get distracted by talking to her?

* * *

**A/N: Well, I had hoped to get this out sooner, but I guess late is better than never. I will be working on this during the school year, so expect updates to continue! Yes, I know that this chapter switched gears rather quickly, but that's how life works. Also, these things will be important later on, so look forward to that.**

**What is Tali on to? Is there something more to the cybernetic combat engineer? Or is she on a wild goose chase?**


	7. Accepting Strategy

The Mako hit the ground, and its assorted passengers were shoved down into their seats momentarily on impact. Therum was a dry desert planet, with anywhere not desert occupied by volcanoes, and everyone was grateful for the temperature regulators in the interior of the tank. John was passing the time recounting the battle with the Thorian and its creepers.

"And you were shaking like you had a nerve problem, Gears," John looked at Alpha, who was quietly sitting back in his seat with his hands folded in his lap, "Like you wanted to shoot those creeps but something told you not to."

"I was under the effect of the Thorian's spores," Alpha responded, unmoving, "My neural augments fought the effects outside of my conscious mind, while my body struggled to interpret the telepathically transmitted orders. Doctor Chakwas believes that it was able to control the colonists by causing extreme pain until the submitted. I felt no such pain, so was not affected in the same way. My cybernetic nature caused a unique reaction to the spores."

"So why were we unaffected?" Garrus pondered aloud.

"Because we weren't exposed for very long." Jane interjected, "We didn't have that many spores in our systems yet."

"What about the other team?" Tali asked to the room, "The... uh, VEINS team. They said that they were there the day before we arrived. Why weren't they affected?"

The Mako was silent for a time, then Kaidan spoke up. "Wait a minute, they were wearing those breathing masks, right? Alpha?"

Everyone turned to the man but for Ashley, as she was currently driving. Alpha gave a quiet sigh, and sat forward. "Yes. Those breathing filters are standard Tactical Reconnaissance Division equipment. They would have prevented the members from inhaling any airborne particles or pathogens. They are designed as a precautionary measure, and this is one of few times that they were actually useful."

"But your friend, Rick, right? Wasn't wearing his." Wrex butted in, "What about him?"

Alpha paused for a moment, then answered, "Richard has a unique physical condition in which his nerve endings are damaged, in that he cannot physically feel pain. The Thorian's spores would have had no effect on him."

Everyone seemed to accept this explanation, and sat back in their seats to wait for the ride to conclude. However, they had to spend some extra time working through an outpost occupied by geth forces. Of course, Garrus made short work of the hostiles with the Mako's main gun. Alpha and Wrex were sent in to open the gate, being the two heaviest units, and they easily cut through any remaining geth.

They shortly arrived at the ruins where their target, Liara T'soni, was reported to be located. Naturally the get were already there. The ground team found various covered locations at John's orders.

"Gears, Bucket, flank right!" he barked as the enemy forces opened fire, "Hellion, Burn, flank right! Ash, Tank, head up the center! Jane, with me!"

Alpha and Tali took to an elevated position on the rocks to the right, using the larger boulders as cover. Alpha used his pistols to take shots at the geth infantry, while Tali spotted for him and used her own omni-tool's tech abilities to land blows on the looming Armature. It hadn't even been thirty seconds of this before something went wrong. That very Armature was bearing down on Ashley and Wrex, the pair having charged forward as instructed, now pinned down in the middle of the hostile force.

"This is Ash," Ashley shouted over comms, "the geth have us pinned here, and that Armature isn't helping!"

Alpha and Tali looked at each other. Tali nodded, and they vaulted over the boulders. Alpha spoke into his helmet's commlink, "Commander, this is Gears. Bucket and I are moving to assist Ash and Tank." They didn't bother listening for a response.

Alpha sprinted through the firestorm, Tali at his heels. The other two teams diverted their attention towards the Armature, focusing fire and abilities to taking it down. Alpha shouldered past the first geth Shock Trooper, sinking his knife into its chest as he went, taking it out quickly and making short work of the machine. Wrex leapt up and tore the second one in half, it having made the mistake of moving within arm's reach of the krogan.

Alpha kicked the geth sniper to the ground, leaning down with one foot on its back and placing to shots in the back of its head. The other sniper was already destroyed. A weight landed on Alpha's back, sending him toppling forward. He wrestled with what he had no doubt was a Hopper, but the thing had him pinned. Then there was the _bang_ of a ballistic weapon being fired, and the Hopper jerked forward violently, before falling limp.

Alpha picked himself up and turned to see Tali, holding the Vindicator's revolver, barrel smoking lightly. Alpha nodded, and gave an approving thumbs-up. Tali quickly switched to her shotgun, blasting the second Hopper off of the underside of the catwalk above them.

Just then, with a loud _crash_, the Armature's head exploded, and Alpha heard Garrus give a hoot of celebration as his carefully placed shot had met its target, destroying the Armature and finishing off the geth force. After regrouping, and a quick check for injuries, they headed into the ruins.

The ground team met intermittent resistance from the geth inside, but as a force of eight, they hardly had to stop once for the fighting, instead cutting through the machines with ease. Deep in the ruins, they found their quarry; A young asari woman trapped in some kind of containment field, with a security barrier blocking access.

John tried shooting the security barrier, and Wrex tried punching it, but both times the attacks bounced off harmlessly. Liara insisted that such things were useless. Then, from the other end of the room, Jane spoke up.

"Hey, if you boys are done attacking the shiny energy barrier, I think this mining laser might be able to get us underneath the chamber." The others moved over to see that she was correct. "It needs some kind of code to work, though."

Alpha grunted in annoyance. Why did everything need to be so complicated? He shouldered past the rest of the group, and used his knife to pry off the keypad, much to his Commanders' dismayed protests. He then removed his right-hand gauntlet, and stabbed his inner wrist at a shallow angle, reaching into the gap with his fingers.

Ashley turned and vomited, Tali polarized her mask, and the rest just looked on in morbid fascination as Alpha pulled a chord out of the wound, plugging it into the exposed wiring to interface with the system. The head of the wire morphed to fit into the needed space.

In seconds, Alpha was past the feeble security measures in place, and fired the mining laser. He then unplugged himself from the laser and let the hardwire interface retract into his arm. He then turned to his teammates, and showed them as the wound practically healed before their very eyes. Though it did strike as a bit odd that metal would heal.

"A hardwire interface allowing me to connect to most computer systems with a neural link. My right arm is outfitted with micro-fabricators to repair any damage." He placed his gauntlet back on, and made his way through the new tunnel. The others soon followed, shaking themselves of the shock from the display.

It didn't take long for the group to free Liara from the containment field, and board the elevator to escape. When they reached the top level, however, a group of geth soldiers led by a krogan Battlemaster. The team took cover as the firefight broke out almost instantly. While the geth fell rather easily, the krogan was another matter.

Tali was too busy finishing off a geth Trooper to notice the charging krogan until it was too late. She turned only in time to see the barrel of a shotgun, and a bright flash of light before the left side of her body erupted in pain, and she was knocked back against the wall, slumping to the ground as the Battlemaster loomed over her.

"Time to die, little quarian." The krogan taunted her, raising his weapon once more to level it with her head.

Out of the corner of her eye, Tali saw Alpha draw his axe and blitz her attacker from behind. Not daring to turn her head as not to give him away, Tali instead put on her best defiant expression and, doing her best to keep the pain out of her voice, said, "You can have my life when you pry it from my cold, dead, chest."

Alpha came down hard on the krogan from behind, driving the blade of the trench hawk into his opponent's back with one goal: To get Tali out of there. He wrapped his arms around the alien, and with a grunt of effort, threw him across the room. He turned to John, who was trying to help Tali to her feet. "Go!" Alpha shouted, "get everyone out of here!" He turned to glare at the enemy krogan, who was picking himself up off the floor. "This one's mine." He growled, gripping his trench hawk.

As John half-carried Tali out of the elevator, the Battlemaster charged again, and Alpha drew his new revolver to line up a shot. But before he could pull the trigger, the krogan fired his own weapon, catching Alpha by surprise and knocking the weapon out of his hand, sending it skittering across the floor. Alpha gave a frustrated grunt, and swung his axe in retaliation, missing entirely. He took a deep breath and focused. He needed to control his anger right now, right now he needed-

His thoughts were interrupted by the Battlemaster ramming the butt of his shotgun into Alpha's visor, cracking the material and sending the human staggering back.

"_Fuck it,_" Alpha thought, and erupted into a earsplitting cry of bloodlust that the ground team could hear while boarding the Normandy. Stowing his weapon, he charged his opponent, leaping at him and tackling him to the ground, pinning him down and straddling him, pounding his fists into the krogan's armored skull. The Battlemaster quickly recovered, pushing the human super-soldier off and sending a painful blow to the ribs.

The two fighters got up and circled for a moment, searching for weaknesses, then Alpha charged again, this time dropping into a slide and delivering a hard punch to the gut, using his momentum to come to a stop behind the krogan. The Battlemaster was hardly stunned ramming his elbow backwards into Alpha's chest, sending him to the floor. The krogan threw himself on top of Alpha, who reacted by coiling up and kicking forwards with both legs, stopping the flying krogan and springing to is feet.

A blast from the forgotten shotgun sent the human back down, though, his shields finally caving and a few more small spiderweb cracks appearing on his helmet visor. The Battlemaster then walked over, smugly placing a heavy foot on Alpha's chest and pointing the shotgun at his head.

"You... are... a pain in the ass!" The krogan said, catching his breath. He leaned down, "So, any last words?"

Alpha, despite being out of breath and in pain, said between heavy breathing, "Hi... Garrus."

"What-" Was all the Battlemaster had to say, before the deafening cry of a .44 caliber revolver carrying high-velocity rounds filled the air. That one, solitary shot, and the krogan's forehead opened up with a small hole, the flesh and bone shards flying outwards.

"He was talking to me." The turian said with his signature dry humorous tone.

Alpha silently sighed in relief as Garrus grabbed the now-dead krogan from behind with one hand, tossing the body to the side to keep it from falling on an exhausted Alpha. In the turian's other hand was the revolver that the cybernetic had been forcefully parted from. Garrus offered his free hand to help Alpha off the floor, which he gladly accepted.

"I think this belongs to you," Garrus said, handing Alpha the revolver, "Has a nice weight to it. You might wanna keep better track of it before someone else uses it. Oh, wait." He smiled jokingly.

Alpha, despite himself, and to the infinite surprise of his turian friend, actually broke out laughing, holstering the gun and leaning on Garrus slightly for support.

"Let's just get back to the Normandy, Vakarian." He touched his visor, "I'll need to requisition a new helmet anyway."

"You gonna name it?" Garrus questioned.

"Name what?"

"The gun. A gun like that needs a name."

Alpha gave a small "heh" at this. Naming a gun? Unless The Founder had already named it, the revolver didn't need a name.

* * *

**A/N: Whew! Trying to get as much in now before school starts, and hoo, boy was this a fun one to write! Expect more from me as the school year drags on, folks!**

**Got questions? Comments? Concerns? Feel free to speak up and talk to me about it!**

**-VV**


	8. Face Reveal

Alpha sat on the cot in his little makeshift quarters/workshop. He had sent a requisition order for a new helmet, but for the time being he had to do without one. Working on his pistols, his mind wandered.

What had possessed him to make such a stupid mistake? Taking on a krogan battlemaster in hand-to-hand combat would be suicide for anyone else, and even for him the odds were slim. Yet he had charged that alien as if he actually had a chance.

Anger. He remembered the pure, unbridled, supernatural fury that had consumed him then. He had seen Tali'Zorah, pinned underneath the battlemaster, and had lost all control. The worst part, though, was that he had no idea why. He had just… instinctively gone into a bloodlust-fueled rage, with the single goal of sending his opponent into whatever afterlife he might believe in.

With his pistols finished, he changed to working on his rifle. The Avenger class automatic assault carbine was a rather interesting piece, and one that he knew was heavily customizable, if one knew where to look.

The curtain that functioned as a makeshift door was pulled open as someone entered. Alpha looked up to see Garrus Vakarian entering, and rather than staring at his face like everyone else had done, he instead took to perusing the human super-soldier's collection of parts and scraps, looking over the shelves with an approving expression.

"Nice selection," Garrus remarked, "got any mods for a sniper rifle?"

Alpha nodded, "In the drawers on the left, toward the bottom."

Garrus followed these directions, opening the drawer to root around in a variety of weapon mods.

Alpha looked up from his work. "What is it, Garrus?"

Garrus feigned being insulted, "What, can't a guy modify his gun without ulterior motives?"

The corner of Alpha's mouth twitched. "Not when 'a guy' is you. You want something. A question, perhaps?"

Garrus took a seat in the chair at the workbench, gesturing to the workshop itself, "Do you have to customize everything you own? I mean, don't get me wrong, I like mods as much as the next guy, but is there anything you use that you haven't modified?"

Alpha thought for a moment then shook his head. Garrus gave a sarcastic sigh, grinning broadly. The turian stood, making for the exit, and Alpha held out a hand to stop him. He received a questioning look.

"You have no questions about my face? About why I look this way?"

Garrus laughed, "Well, of course I do. But I think that you've been grilled hard enough on that. Besides, I'm pretty sure I'll get my answers from the others later."

As he left, Alpha saw Garrus with a new respect. The man was certainly informal, he had a solid moral compass and an excellent sense of reason, and crossed no boundaries with the combat engineer. Alpha leaned back on his cot, allowing himself a moment of rest. It struck him that the Mako had yet to undergo repairs, and the other crew members were soon going to enter their sleeping pods.

He stood up from his weapons, and grabbed a small array of tools and materials. As he trudged out into the cargo bay, he saw that the others were staring at him, all but for Garrus, who was happily attaching the mods Alpha had given him to his sniper rifle. He also saw that the others were, in fact, slowly thinning out as they all gradually boarded the elevator to exit the bay.

He let the song play as he slid underneath the Mako, grabbing his tools and beginning his work. It wasn't long before his acute auditory senses heard the elevator open. He finished up a weld, then pulled himself out from underneath the tank to see who was up at this hour. Who he saw actually surprised him slightly.

Tali exited the elevator to hear some kind of human music playing loudly. The lyrics were in english, and her translator wasn't capable of translating music at all well. Besides, the words would almost certainly not rhyme after translation. She expected to see Ashley at her bench, blaring her music as usual but was surprised to see that the bay was deserted. Deserted, but for a mass of light coming from underneath the Mako. Someone was welding under there.

She made her way over, and almost jumped out of her suit when Alpha Black pulled himself out from underneath, coming out right between her legs.

"Hello, Tali'Zorah." He said as if nothing had happened.

"Alpha!" Tali cried, gaining her footing and catching her breath, "W-what are you doing up this late?"

Alpha stood up, dusting himself off, and Tali noticed that he was still wearing his armor. But he lacked a helmet. Indeed, his head and face were completely exposed. "I could ask you the same, Tali'Zorah. Are you not supposed to be in the sick bay, recovering?"

Tali looked down sheepishly, bouncing up and down on he toes, "I… I couldn't sleep. It's too quiet."

Alpha seemed to think about this for a moment, then looked her in the eyes. Tali found herself drawn into those eyes; It was obvious they were not natural. The sclera was a deep, dull metal gray, and the iris and pupil were one large, glowing feature, colored a bright sun-yellow.

"Sleep in my cot." He said simply. His face was entirely blank.

"Wh-what!?"

Alpha gestured toward his workshop, "It is loud here. And you need rest to function at peak capacity. Sleep in my cot. I will not be using it anyway."

Tali just nodded, memorising every aspect of the human's face. He was caucasian, with a head of short, dark blonde hair, with a thin beard grazing his jaw. He lacked the chizeled, hollywood skull from most human movies, but regardless he held a hard aura of authority.

She slipped into the workshop, layed down on the cot, and quickly fell asleep to all the familiar noise of metalworking.

After Tali was asleep, Alpha decided that he would test himself, and shed his armor, leaving only a skin-layer suit clinging to his body, covering him from the neck down, but leaving his hands exposed.

He fired up a speaker that Ashley used to listen to music while she worked. His hacking skills enabled him to access the device by merely waving his omni-tool at it from across the room. His subconscious did the rest.

He flipped through the songs until he heard one that sounded interesting. Music was supposed to help with efficiency in manual labor, so Alpha figured that he would give it a try. The song itself was over 30 years old but, as Alpha was finding out with each time he tried music, the audio-entertainment didn't seem to lose anything with time. And he had heard this one before.

He worked tirelessly into the night, losing track of time as songs came and went, until the music came back around to his original choice. It was at this time that people came down to the bay, returning to their jobs. Finishing up with his personal touches, Alpha grunted as his cramped and stiff joints pulled him out from under the Mako.

This time, there were more people than just Tali standing there. The entire ground crew was standing in a semicircle around him. He climbed to his feet, leaning against the Mako and savoring the fresh air, untainted by fumes.

His eyes flicked between the members. Garrus gave an approving nod, Wrex ogled at him, Tali looked away (Alpha could swear that he saw her blush), Ashley wolf-howled her approval, Liara just stared, and the twins exchanged an unsure look. It was then that Alpha remembered that he was wearing only his skin-layer suit.

"Uh… Lieutenant-Commander… you look, uh…" Liara tried to fill the void.

"She means to say you're a shredded sonofabitch!" Ashley .

Alpha shrugged, "Thank you both, but I was not looking for approval."

The twins got everyone to part ways, and Alpha stepped back into his armor as Tali found the courage to look at him again. When she did, Alpha had the strange urge to do something extremely odd. He quickly brought the chestplate down, exposing his abdomen, and this time Tali did stare. For a moment, that is, before Alpha stopped his indulgence in curiosity and fit the rest of his Galahad armor back into place.

Tali shook herself of the shock of what was effectively seeing Alpha shirtless, and recomposed herself. "What is this music?"

Alpha opened up his omni-tool, playing it over the device rather than Ashley's speaker, seamlessly transitioning between the two without any gaps. "Old human song. It is about the emergence of the Veins during the First Contact War."

Tali nodded her thanks, "What is this song about specifically, though? Surely a single song cannot describe an entire war?"

Alpha thought for a moment, then decided he could answer. "It is about an act of bravery, in a single battle. The defending force was decimated by airstrike ordinance and artillery bombardment, to the point that only one-hundred soldiers remained."

"That's horrible!"

"That is only the beginning. The man who became acting commander, Enforcer Alec Holt, led the tattered remains of his force against the turian forces, in a counterattack that is remembered to this day by many. They were bloody, battered, and half-dead, but they brought fiery death upon their foes. The turians, despite being turians, were terrified by this act of human resilience, and seeing walking corpses coming their way. In the end, Holt was the only survivor, having killed every turian on the field."

"Keelah..."

Alpha raised his head, looking directly forward, "That was the day the VMC asserted itself as a military force, and began negotiations with non-human races. The song, truly, is about Holt himself, who could not return home after the war, as the battlefield had become the only home he knew. Men like us deserve nothing more, want nothing more. We know death, pain, suffering, and have caused the half of it, and yet we fight on for the collective benefit of all."

John dropped in on the conversation, "Sorry to break this up, but we go planetside in an hour and you two are coming along. Get your gear ready and empty your bladders."

Alpha nodded, and ducked back inside his shanty. Tali followed him, asking, "Actually, on that note, I've been looking for my shotgun. Have you seen it?"

Alpha grabbed the gun from his workbench, placing it in Tali's hands. "It needed maintenance, and Sargent Williams was busy. I increased the power output and tightened the spread with a barrel extension. Do you still have the revolver?"

Tali thanked him for the upgrades, and produced the revolver from its holster. "I put it on when I woke up today."

Alpha nodded approvingly. He then looked over Tali's suit, much to her confused embarrassment. After a thorough check, he took several shaped ceramic plates from the shelves, each one with kevlar straps to fasten them to the wearer.

"Your suit does not provide adequate protection for our operations. This can be easily remedied. I crafted these plates yesterday for this purpose, after your encounter with the battlemaster."

He handed these plates to Tali, who managed to strap the shoulder and shin into place. However, she needed Alpha's help with the breastplate and collar guard. Without a second thought, he moved behind her, and fixed the plate to her frame. As his hands worked around her chest, Tali's breath caught.

Alpha worked gently, ensuring he made no sudden movements, or made anything too tight. As he fixed the collar guard into place, Tali's mind raced. He was in a very… unique position in relation to her. And yet he made no move, said no words that might suggest anything.

As he fit the collar in place, he moved to slide a glove over her right hand, the back of its entirety complete with ceramic plates, leaving only the joints exposed. This was designed as armor and a melee weapon.

"Th-thank you." Tali said, having trouble relaxing.

"No problem." Alpha responded simply. Then the two of them made their way to the rest of the team. Neither of them wanted to be late.


	9. Fire on Ice

Alpha shouldered his way past his teammates, marching right up to the security chief and staring her down. He wore an ordinary helmet, hiding his face from the public. This, however, did nothing to diminish his intimidating stature.

He was sick and tired of people getting in their way. From the geth on Feros, to the security here on Noveria, all he wanted to do was ram his fist into their useless little heads, and pull out the pea-brain within. Now, though, he was just barely holding back that fury in order to reach a nonviolent resolution, as not to make the ground team a public enemy.

The situation cleared up quickly, the woman in charge ordering her subordinates to stand down. Alpha gave a quick snarl as he made his way to the entry doors. The mission was to track down Asari Matriarch Benezia, Liara's mother, and neutralize her. Alpha had had enough of mission complications, and for once he just wanted to get the damned assignment done without something going wrong and doubling the mission time.

When he realised that they would have to go through a gauntlet of political bullshit, Alpha gave a frustrated huff and went to lean against a wall, waiting for the others to be done. Kaidan and Garrus joined him after a moment.

"I can't stomach this political string-pulling," the biotic said, "It would be a lot better if we could just get on with the stupid mission without needing to jump through their damn hoops."

Garrus followed the line, "Oh, you don't need to tell me about jumping through hoops." He pointed at himself, "C-sec? Spirits, the kind of paperwork you need just to off one thug."

"I can't imagine how hard it would be to take down Saren with C-sec's rules," Kaidan sighed.

Garrus laughed, "I don't have to. I tried to do that. That's when you found me, remember?"

"What about you, Alpha?" Kaidan asked, both of them turning to the super-soldier who, up until this point, had been silent, "What's your take?"

Alpha paused for a moment before responding, slightly annoyed at being roped into the conversation. "When I was solely The Founder's right hand, I had no need for such things. I could simply deploy onto the battlefield, alone, and carry out my mission without an over-privileged bureaucrat telling me how to do my job. This?" He gestured to the room, signifying the political leadership. "This is a waste of time. The Matriarch could be escaping as we speak, and we are sitting here on our asses waiting for a local to give us the go-ahead. It is, as I believe the term goes, an 'ass-backwards' system."

"Amen to that," Kaidan agreed. Garrus nodded with an exasperated sigh. Alpha had spoken what the both of them were thinking.

After a minute of silence, a familiar voice called out to them. "Well, if it isn't my favorite multi-species band of misfits!"

"Richard!" Garrus and Kaidan cried out in unison.

The half-cowboy approached quickly, embracing each of them respectively. "How're you lot doing? We're here to take down the Matriarch." He spoke the last part in a hushed tone.

"Same." Kaidan said simply.

The group conversed briefly, exchanging their agreement on the inefficiency of the local system. Then Jane stepped in. "Sorry to cut this short, boys, but team Normandy just got clearance to move on Peak 15. We're heading out."

In minutes, the team had parted with Richard and entered the Mako. They were well underway when the geth forces appeared.

"These things just won't stop getting in our way!" Wrex shouted over the sound of Garrus firing the cannons at the geth in question.

A hit from a heavy turret rocked the Mako, smashing into the exit hatch. The hatch, miraculously, remained closed. At least, it did, until another shot sent Tali careening out of her crash webbing, and she slammed hard into the weakened plate. The hatch flew open, and Tali was sent plummeting down the cliffs below.

"Bucket! Dammit!" John shouted as Alpha lunged to the hatch, making ready to dive out after the quarian engineer. John noticed, "Gears, what the hell are you doing!?"

"Getting my quarian back." He answered, gritting his teeth.

Alpha leapt out from the hatchway, slamming the exit shut behind him with a strong kick that served to accelerate him further. He dropped down the cliff like a quarter-ton stone, striking a HALO-freefall dive pose. Tali was struggling frantically to control her fall, but ended up bouncing against the sheer rock face.

The human cybernetic caught up with her quickly, wrapping himself around her and flipping over, using his back to slide down the cliff. His armor was strong enough to catch a Mako, and it was strong enough for this. With the bottom fast approaching, Alpha threw Tali up into the air, slowing her fall considerably.

Alpha himself had no such mechanism to slow himself, and ended up dashed against the hard rock and ice at the bottom. His helmet bounced away as he lay prone on the ground, his body going into shock as he thought to himself, "Nothing ever lets me out unscathed." He then blacked out, barely registering in his mind Tali landing mere meters away.

Tali landed much more softly than Alpha, and managed to climb to her feet before her left ankle exploded with pain. She heard a soft crunch as she put pressure on that foot. The ankle was broken. She limped over to Alpha's form, the wind picking up quickly, throwing snow into the air and obscuring her vision. Only the fact that Alpha's armor was pitch black allowed her to see him through the building snowstorm.

She knelt down next to him, shaking him and turning him over to see that his eyes were closed, and his breathing was ragged and uneven. His right eye socket was coated with red blood, the bone slightly deformed from the impact. She heard on the wind a series of growling sounds, calls that she could not recognise. Then a crowd of insect-like aliens appeared from the storm. She had read about these things. Rachni.

She shook Alpha vigorously, shouting at him to get up. But he would not respond. Alpha lay face up in the snow, unmoving, barely breathing. Any hope of getting out of this alive lay with him. And he was out cold.

Just when it seemed like the human soldier would not awaken, he did just that. With a high-pitched mechanical whine, and a sharp click, his eyes shot open. Grunting as a combat high soared, he flipped over onto his stomach, throwing himself to his feet and drawing his knife and axe.

Alpha scanned his opponents. He had no idea what they were; he had never seen anything like this before. All he knew was that they wanted to kill Tali, and he was not about to let that happen while he still drew breath. And his implants insured that he certainly was not about to sleep through it.

He charged forward, his blood boiling with unholy fury as he barrelled into the rachni, swinging his trench hawk and slashing with his knife, tearing the damned things apart in a bloody melee.

The cold stung his exposed head, but he felt like he was on fire. His body (especially his legs) sang an opera of agony, yet he attacked with an unmatched ferocity, cutting a swath through the enemy like a man possessed. He had a mission, and goddammit he was going to complete it!

As the rachni advanced slowly, pushing in despite Alpha's bloodlust-fueled rampage, Tali fired her shotgun at whatever got too close. Once again, hope seemed all but lost. But, as if the universe was, ironically, dead-set on their survival, a song played through the storm.

Alpha recognised the song instantly; Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival. He looked to the sky to see the silhouette of a black VTOL nearing, machine guns blazing. He roared with renewed determination, drawing his custom Avenger and setting a storm of gunfire upon the insect-things.

The gunship cut a path right to the two of them, and who else should be standing in the open blast door than Richard Jacobson, firing away with an assault rifle and grinning like an idiot. The Tacticon leader waved them aboard as a rope ladder dropped from the opening. Alpha went to climb, but saw that Tali was hardly able to even walk. Thinking quickly, he had an idea.

He pulled Tali close with one arm, causing her to squeal with surprise, and with his other arm he fired an omni-line, a technology he had neglected to use since the Citadel. The end of the grappling device landed firmly inside the VTOL. Alpha leapt up as the powerful device pulled him and Tali up the line, and safely into the gunship.

Once they were inside, Richard brought the blast door sliding shut, and ordered the pilot to move out. The ship shook slightly as they accelerated into the air, guns firing until the pit was out of sight. They flew in exhausted silence to Peak 15. Alpha paced impatiently, itching to fight. His adrenaline was pumping, and his mind was in combat mode.

When they arrived, Alpha dropped in with the Tacticon team via rope through the windows of the building, while Tali stayed aboard. Alpha crashed through the glass like a wrecking ball, landing with a roll in front of Benezia. The Normandy team was frozen in some kind of stasis field. Sadly, this field caught the Tacticon squad too, Alpha included, much to his growing frustration.

The Matriarch was going about something or other about Saren. "Saren, you bastard," Alpha thought to himself violently, "I will kill you. I swear it. But first, the puppet." Alpha didn't hear Benezia's ranting. He was too focused on moving his right hand, the hand that aimed a pistol nearest to the asari.

He moved agonizingly slowly, forcing his arm to move against the biotic restraints, and finally, after what felt like forever, he pulled the trigger. The shot resonated through the room, as a bullet struck the Matriarch's barrier, breaking her focus and releasing him and his allies from their stasis.

Alpha charged the enemy forces entering the room. An asari commando attempted a biotic attack, another stasis field, and the human killing machine erupted with a bellowing roar that shook the room. His rage-fueled thirst for blood triggered a massive shock of adrenaline to his system, and he shattered the stasis field with an unstoppable charging momentum.

He leapt at the commando, striking hard with his robotic left arm as he reached the apex of his jump. The asari's head was reduced to a bloody pulp, and her body slung to the floor. Another attempted to attack, and Alpha rammed his knife through her stomach, stabbing twice more before kicking her backwards into an approaching geth unit.

The battle was gruesome, but they were ready. Alpha cut down geth and asari commando alike, the Tacticon team lit up the room with silenced SMGs, and team Normandy held fast until Benezia herself was vulnerable. It was then that John dealt the final blow, blasting her with a shotgun from point-blank range.

The emotions were heavy, but the scene was quick. The Rachni queen was spared a terrible fate, and the team got the information they needed. Liara was devastated at the death of her mother and John of all people took to comforting her, whispering gently as she wept into his shoulder.

Alpha rode back with Tali in the Veins gunship, and the two of them sat alone in the small cargo hold. Tali sat, shivering in the cold, and clutching her broken ankle as in throbbed with pain.

Alpha saw this, and had a moment of inspiration. He shed his armor, leaving the skin-layer suit to dress his form. He then sat Tali in his lap, sitting cross-legged and hugging her to his chest. The much smaller quarian soon stopped shivering, and actually relaxed, melting into the warmth provided by the super-soldier's augmented body.

A feeling stirred within the murder-machine. The corner of his mouth twitched upward, and stuck there. He had done something right that had nothing to do with combat or death.

When the bird touched back down, Tali was fast asleep. Alpha took it upon himself to carry her to the Normandy, ensuring the silence of those around him with a deadly glare if they dared endanger her slumber.

As they boarded the Normandy, Richard gave Alpha a package. Alpha thanked him, and the two quietly parted ways once more. Aboard the ship, the super-soldier gingerly lay an injured Tali on a cot in sick bay, holding her as if he might break her. Really, he was afraid he would.

"She'll be just fine," Doctor Chakwas assured him quietly, "Just a broken ankle. It's nothing compared to your injuries. Really, I should be treating you first."

"No," Alpha shook his head, "I will be fine. I have no broken bones, merely fractures and lacerations."

"Yes, and a partially collapsed right eye socket."

He shrugged, and sat on the cot. "Treat her first."

Chakwas began to collect medical equipment, "Oh, no, Mister Black. You're in my sick bay now. And here, I'm in charge. Your lack of a sense of self-preservation will get you killed if I'm not treating you. You're first."

Alpha gave a quiet sigh. "So be it. But no painkillers or knock-out drugs. I do not want to wait for them to take effect."

She smiled, "Now that, I can deal with. I know you don't squirm under pain. Just hold still and I'll patch you up quick."

_Alpha Log # 112: September 2177: Day 1 of Vindicator training_

_Mister Black has assigned me to an accelerated training course for our elite soldiers: The Vindicators. His son Victor is here as well, along with a strange man named Richard. Richard has apparently taken a liking to me, despite my unique features. He says that we do not need to be the same in order to be friends; We just have to get along. He likes old music. He plays one song in particular, Fortunate Son, especially often._

_We are moving from the Sahara Desert (New Eden) to a base in Antarctica. There, we will learn how to fight and survive in hostile conditions. Namely, sub-zero temperatures. I am eager to discover how well I will perform in such an unfamiliar environment._

_My augments should allow me to push past any climate-related hazards. In addition, I discovered today that I recover exceptionally quickly from incapacitation and unconsciousness. This is no doubt due to my biomechanical nature. This will be useful for any future combat scenarios, real or simulated_.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry about the slow updates. I had no time to add a note on the last chapter, so here's one on this chapter instead! I'm going to start adding these italicized Logs at the end of each chapter, in order to finally do the series title some justice. These Alpha Logs are past records created by Alpha as he went through his time in the Veins and Alliance. They will help with backstory and context.**

**Also, I will now be using Veins over VEINS, as I think it's easier to read and much faster to type. Like the all-caps acronym version over the new format? DM me or leave a review saying so, and I just might go back to that! -VV**


	10. Knife in Shining Armor

She worked at her terminal, the drive core humming away smoothly. The other engineers were, oddly enough, absent. She assumed that they would be down shortly. Or maybe she missed the call for lunch. She turned around to see the scene change abruptly to a bloody battlefield. An army of horrific monsters lumbered toward her, and she cried out in terror as she reached for her shotgun, only to realise it was not there.

Tali stumbled backwards, tripping as she did so, falling onto her back. She began to softly cry. She blinked away the tears, only to find herself back on the Citadel. She remembered this; before the Shepard twins had picked her up. She saw herself praying in an alley, as Saren's thugs made their way there.

"I need someone who won't run away," She heard herself say to the Ancestors, "Someone who won't leave. Maybe send an angel? The nicest one you have!"

The scene played out just as she remembered. Alpha dropped down from the rooftops, easily slaughtering the thugs. "Wait," Tali thought to herself, "Was he…?"

Her train of thought was cut short as she was pulled back to the battlefield, the monsters looming ever closer. Then a man clad in a large suit of black armor dropped seemingly from nowhere. He turned his head, looking at her from behind the helmet. "Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm your knight in shining armor." He responded in a familiarly cool tone, drawing a large sword from a sheath on his back, charging alone into the horde. One by one, the monsters fell to his blade. He cut them down with ease, with an elite skill and sturdy, tactical finesse, neglecting to perform fantastical maneuvers, but rather choosing to move with a quick, practiced simplicity.

He leapt onto the back of one of the creatures, slashing the beast's spine with his blade as he leapt backwards onto another, punching its skull in with one blow. He rode the corpse to the ground, twisting his body as he grabbed one monster, at least five times his size, and hurled it into three more.

He then raised his fist towards the sky, and the armor fell away to reveal a metallic gray synthetic arm. A massive bolt of lightning struck his hand, and he immediately slammed his fist into the ground, sending a massive electric shockwave through the beasts.

In another scene, Tali watched as he struck down geth forces with twin pistols, sending the periodic overload into the ones that got too close. He fired with rapid precision, landing mark after mark. He shot with a disciplined trigger finger, yet attacked with brutal force.

In yet another, she saw the warrior taking on a massive enemy, so huge that it grew into the walls. He carved a path through its minions, batting them aside with his hands as if they were but a nuisance. He bathed himself in fire and flame in order to kill the beast, the whole time maintaining a steely determination. As if he held no fear of death or pain.

"Alpha," Tali thought to herself, "Alpha, how do you do it? How do you fight with not a single thing holding you back, walk through hell and back, and come back for more every time? How are you such a hero?"

She was back in engineering, at her terminal. She sighed, and resumed working. She must have been daydreaming again. Tali worked at the terminal, but seemingly got nothing done. There was nothing to do. So why exactly was she still going at it?

She gasped as Alpha grabbed her from behind, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to him, whispering softly, "I cannot fear death. He can only fear me, for he cannot stop me." She melted into him. She only stopped when she woke up.

He opened his eyes. He was tired. He was bloody. He was battered and weary. He was out of ammunition, and his blades were dull to uselessness. He stood, slowly, his muscles and joints aching with an eternity of battle. Determined to complete his mission, he looked ahead.

There, standing in front of him, was a shadowy figure, brandishing a large rifle. He clenched his fists, scanning his surroundings to get his bearings. He saw her, strapped to the wall, far on the other end of the room. With right around ten dozen shadowy guards between them.

Alpha could feel that he had no weapons. He did not need any. He clenched his teeth as he prepared for what he knew he had to do. He had to show what he had hidden. He had to reveal the man behind the mask. He had to become the living weapon he was designed to be. There was no other way. He felt her, crying out to him. His anger was making his blood boil. He let go of his logical mind.

He was tired, bloody, battered and weary. But more than that, he was a weapon. A knife brought to a fistfight. The glass mask shatters, and the behemoth beneath is revealed.

He roared with an unholy wrath, letting go any inhibitions or logical thought. His eyes came to life with a supernatural fire. His anger, his fury, knew no bounds. And he was too enraged to even care. He barreled forward, unleashing a lethal string of unrestrained punches, mashing the figure's empty face into a bloody pulp. Without pause, he shot forward, pushing into the army of prey.

He operated on pure instinct, ripping through his targets like a wolf through wounded rats. He fought tooth and nail, slashing when he could not punch, kicking when he could not slash. Headbutting when he could not kick, tearing apart what he could not headbutt, and punching what he could not tear apart. Alpha moved like a man possessed by hell itself.

They shot him, cut him, hit him, and he felt nothing. He felt only the scorching, blazing flames of ire within him, their reign absolute. He reached out to her, the quarian imprisoned, but before he could reach her, a woman pulled him back. An asari, on the shorter side. She said something about how they were "meant for each other", and how he should "forget the quarian."

She leaned in to kiss him, his helmet absent. He spat in her face, howling with a rage that her words only worked to fuel. "FUCK YOU, YOU GODDAMN LEECH OF A BITCH!"

He rammed his forehead into hers, sending her staggering backwards. He lunged forwards, an objective appearing in his HUD: Eviscerate. He jammed his fingers into her mouth, grabbing with one hand her lower jaw, the other her upper. He pulled with a strength alien even to him, separating her jaw from her skull until it was just about to break away. He then released her, and proceeded to pummel her until her teeth were being fed to her.

"YOU DID THIS!" He bellowed as he struck again and again, "YOU DID THIS! YOU HURT HER! I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE, TO FIND ANOTHER, BUT YOU WOULDN'T! YOU FUCKING BITCH, YOU GODDAMNED PARASITE! YOU HURT TALI! DIE, DIE, DIE!"

Tears of anger and pain streamed down his face. His worst fears were culminating, driving him to behave in a reckless act of desperation. He had to get rid of her, by any means necessary. She needed to die.

He stopped only when he woke up.

Alpha awoke gasping for air. It was all a nightmare, just a dream. That did not help the fact that his adrenaline was pumping fiercely through his veins. He looked around. He was in his workshop, in the cargo bay. He was lying on his cot, drenched in sweat. He let his head fall back, as his mind processed what he had just seen.

She had been there. The asari. The one from his past. There had been a time when certain people were able to push through his anger, his robotic nature, and reveal a shimmer of another emotion underneath: Love. He had thought she had been one of them, one to pierce through the shell. She had not even gotten a glimpse of his true self when he realised that he had been wrong.

He had learned how to emulate human behavior, to act as if he had a full span of emotion. He had taught himself to wear a societal mask, which would conceal his true nature. With time, those who worked closely with him learned to pierce the mask and see the man beneath; A cold, calculated man with a dark past. But people like Richard stuck with him anyway. She had… not.

She had manipulated him. She had clung to him like a child might a toy they knew they could not possess. She refused to accept that he was not who she wanted him to be. And so he had left. He had not thought about this in years. He had not thought about this since he dropped the societal mask, in place of the glassman mask.

The glassman mask was a different psychological nutshell. The idea was that you never notice glass unless it's broken. The glassman mask was a mask that seemed transparent, like glass, and appeared to reveal the man beneath. In reality, the mask still conceals, but it is much harder to notice. It looks like the man beneath laid bare, but it is not.

Few had ever seen beneath the mask. Fewer still remained to tell the tale. People who got close to Alpha had a tendency to find themselves victim to a plot to get to him through them. The asari, Amala, had been the only one to ever kiss him. And he regretted every time, now that he was past it.

He was a beast of burden, a machine of war. He was not programmed to feel anything but anger. He assumed that his emotions leaning more toward love were simply an over-emulation of behavior. Yet Tali brought upon him an overwhelming sense of protectiveness whenever she was in harm's way. That vexed him to no end.

_Alpha Log #128: December 2177: Day 93 of Vindicator training_

_I met an asari when we first arrived in Antarctica. Her name is Amala. She had taken quite a liking to me at the beginning. Now, I believe that I understand organic behavior enough to have reason to suspect that she has fallen in love with me. And despite my lack of programming in this area, I think that I am mirroring this emotion. I am happy, I believe._

_Alpha Log #132: June 2178: Day 216 of Vindicator training_

_I have left Amala. She has no love for me. She loves only the man she thinks she can turn me into. I know that this relationship will not work out. She would not accept that on her own. I have had enough of her constant attempts to modify my behavior._

_Alpha Log #132b: July 2178: Day 10 of leave_

_Amala will not leave. She clings to me. Even when she is not around, she will not leave me alone. She interrogates my friends about me, and when I am present, she stares at me. When I do not give her my full attention, she sulks about as if I had insulted her. When I make the slightest criticism of her behavior, she apologizes, even sometimes running off, as if I had threatened to stab her. All that I said was: "Would you please stop staring at me?" How was that an unreasonable request? If she continues like this, I will take a hardline approach._

* * *

**A/N: A rapid chapter, I know, but that's how dreams work in my experience. I wanted to introduce some concepts like the glassman mask that will come up later. These things aren't actual masks or anything, they're just metaphorical concepts about our personalities. My take on some pre-existing concepts about societal faces and masks.**

**And yes, Amala will be important later. -VV**


	11. Never Alone

_I used to be lonely 'till I learned about livin' alone_

_I found other things to keep my mind on_

_And I'm gettin' to know myself a little bit better_

_Whoa, I keep pushin' on_

_Keep pushin' on, yeah_

_Goin' through all the changes, I made so many mistakes, oh yes I did_

_Tryin' to leave behind the heartaches_

_And sometimes I think I was a little bit crazy, oh yeah_

_Whoa, I keep pushin' on_

_Keep pushin', keep pushin', keep pushin', keep pushin' on_

_Keep pushin', keep pushin', you know you have got to be so strong_

_Keep pushin, keep pushin', well even if you think your strength is gone_

_Keep pushin' on_

_Well it's comin' together, I finally feel like a man, oh yes I do_

_I never thought that I'd be where I am, oh_

_Everyday I wake a little bit higher_

_Whoa, I keep pushin' on, oh yeah…_

Alpha listened to the song to its length. _REO Speedwagon_ was the band, _Keep Pushin'_ was the song. He sat at his desk, going through messages at his terminal. The package Richard had given him back on Noveria was a new Galahad helmet, this time with a further reinforced visor. The helmet sat on the desk, unused. Alpha was too busy pouring over his latest messages.

He selected the last one, and the holographic avatar of The Founder appeared. The avatar consisted of a cloaked figure, viewed from the shoulders up, with two specks of light where eyes would be, the rest of the head shrouded in digital shadow. Alpha leapt to his feet, snapping off a crisp salute.

"Cut the formalities, Alpha," The Founder said in his signature low voice, "You know I can't stand it when you salute me. Leave that to the greenies."

"Sir." Alpha acknowledged, returning to a relaxed stance.

"We need your eyes on a project back on Earth. In Second Eden."

"Australia?" Alpha questioned, "If the project is so important, why not base it in New Eden?"

"Because the Sahara is already under enough heat from the Alliance. We need this to be off the records. Richard and his team were given orders to board the Normandy with you. They will go with you to a Veins ship on the Citadel. Take the quarian with you."

Alpha cocked his head to the side questioningly. The Founder knew the question. "Her… expertise is needed. Besides, I don't trust anyone else but you with her protection, given the stories I've heard. This is the mission, complete the mission."

Alpha nodded, and the message ended. He turned to the door, giving an expectant look. Tali came in from the cargo bay. She had been listening. He put on his helmet before she began. "So," She said, putting her hands on her waist, sticking her hip to one side in mock anger, "I finally get to see your Veins in action, hmm? Do I even get a choice?"

Alpha was so very glad he had put on his helmet, as his eyes gravitated involuntarily to her waist as she moved. "Do you not want to go?" He countered.

"No, I do," Tali conceded, giving a small giggle, "I just wanted to see what you would say." She drew herself up to the greatest height she could, puffing out her chest and doing her best low voiced impression of Alpha, "You're going whether you like it or not. I have my orders. You're needed elsewhere." She laughed at her own joke. Alpha smirked.

He did a high-pitched voice, mocking Tali playfully, "Whatever you say, Alpha. Just as long as you kill all the mean killer robots along the way." She burst out laughing at this retort.

They made their way to the mess table, where they discovered Richard locked in deep historical debate with Liara.

"But the Protheans were so advanced," Liara was saying, "There simply isn't a way that they could be wiped out that easily!"

"Ah," Richard retorted, "But if they were so advanced, how do you explain the lack of artifacts? Ruins? Scripture? What we find is so rare, and far enough underground, that they had to be hidden on purpose. It's like someone came through and salted the land, leaving no trace."

"Yes, but the citadel, and the relays! They still stand!" Liara insisted.

"Who says they have to be Prothean?" Richard said smugly, leaning back in his seat, "Why can't they be from some other civilization before them? Some remnants of an even more advanced race? And where are the bodies, the fossils, the-"

"Oh, cut it, you two," Ashley interrupted, eating her breakfast, "Some of us are trying to eat here, without a couple of know-it-alls fighting about a dead species. Either get a room or settle it in the ring."

Liara blushed at the first notion, but Richard just laughed. He held up his hand, showing a ring on his finger, "Sorry to disappoint, but I'm spoken for. And I don't think that Miss T'soni is much of a brawler. No offense." He spoke the last words to Liara.

As the table filled with crewmembers and trays, Richard turned to Alpha. "Well, what about some philosophy? Gears, you're always up for that, amiright?" Alpha nodded, and Richard made his way to the elevator with him, leaving Tali to eat her meal. "Let's leave these good folks to their food, eh? Let them eat without us making them question reality."

When they were back in the cargo bay, Alpha took to the rhythmic beating of a boxing bag, while Richard leaned against the wall and started the banter. "Remember Zero's revelations? About the 'reason for everything' and all?"

"Yes," the cybernetic responded, striking the bag with steady, firm blows, "And he was right. Not everything requires a reason to exist, to function. It merely needs a means to survive. Whether or not it has an important place in its ecosystem is irrelevant."

"Heh, yeah," Richard sighed, "Man, I miss being a Vindicator. Just point and shoot, black and white, right and wrong, nice and simple. Like that philosophy. None of this gray area bullshit that we Tacticons put up with."

"Yes," Alpha said thoughtfully, continuing his exercise, "But someone must put up with it. What is the saying? 'It is a dirty job, but someone has to do it?' The 'gray area' is necessary to ensure that all involved get their due."

Tali walked out from the elevator, and Richard went to talk to her. His conversations with Alpha were really just time-killers anyway. Both of them knew and appreciated this.

"So," Tali said, taking a seat with Richard, "I finally get to see what you people are all about."

"Yup," the soldier responded, "didn't expect that from a pilgrimage, huh?"

Tali shook her head, "Not that I'm complaining. It's just that this is all so… overwhelming." She looked at Alpha, still going at the bag, "He doesn't seem very excited, does he?"

"Nothing gets the tin man excited," Richard said, laughing at Tali's reaction to his insult of Alpha, "What? He knows I call him that. Gears, tin man, glassman, he doesn't care. You can call him whatever you want, provided you remember he's able to beat you with one finger."

"Speaking of which," Tali pondered aloud, "Why isn't he in charge? He seems perfectly fit for leadership. Why is he the one taking orders from the Shepards and not the other way around?"

Richard's face darkened. He leaned in, speaking quietly, "Because he was."

Tali was shocked. "What happened?"

Richard breathed deeply, "Three years ago, a small colony on the outer territory came under fire from a human-supremacist terrorist group. Heavy weapons and armor, not cheap shit. The colony was made up almost entirely of non-humans. Whatever forces the Alliance had there were slaughtered in the initial attack."

Tali simply sat in silence. Richard continued, "The Founder knew that the damned Alliance, nor the Council would do anything in time, what with their political red tape. So he assembled a team to launch a counter-assault. Alpha volunteered first, and he was put in charge."

"It was Alpha, Victor, Zero, Captain Winters, Tanna'Shaa and I. The six of us volunteered for a suicide mission, and no one expected us to come back alive. They even called the thing 'Operation Dead Man's March.' But when we hit the ground, Alpha seemed determined to die. He would charge ahead again and again, storming into enemy fire and destroying anyone in his path. It was when he ran into an enemy MG that he broke."

"He was hit?"

"No," Richard paused, choking slightly, "Tanna, she… she threw herself in front of him. The rounds went right through her suit. She was chewed up into a mess of gore an blood. She was sent home in just a big jar. Not even getting a pine box. Alpha knew her well. She was the best of us. Had the brightest future, deserved to live the most. That's when I saw something change in him, in that moment. Something… snapped."

"Oh, keelah…" Tali looked at Alpha with sorrow in her eyes.

"He tried so hard to die that day. Even going so far as to throw away his guns and use only his knife and hands. Nothing could put him down. When the last one of those goddamn terrorists was dead, we found out that we were too late. They had already taken most of the colonists. It was Winters, in his VTOL, who shot down the only remaining ship. That was only some twenty people in there we saved. The rest were taken."

Tali stayed silent. Richard was not crying, no; He was blank-faced and pale. "You know, you remind me of her, of Tanna. Alpha made that trench hawk of his in her honor. Forged the blade himself."

"What did he make it from?" Tali asked this as she felt a shadow fall over them. She looked up to see Alpha, smelling lightly of sweat.

"Grafted material from my right arm." He said cooly. "Load up. We're docking at the Citadel."

On the Citadel, the group had to split from Normandy, moving to the Wards and traveling by back alley. Only one gang of cretins attempted to mug them, but they were scared off when a man in a black leather trench coat dropped from the rooftops, driving a knife into the lead thug as he landed on him.

He rose to his feet after ensuring the threat was gone. As he turned to face them, Tali noticed that he had a black metal patch covering the left portion of his face, his left eye a glowing red dot. He smiled, a very human hand raising to his head for a casual salute of greeting. His right hand was visibly augmented with extensive cybernetics, while his left was fully mechanical, like Alpha's right, but thinner.

"Alpha," he said, bumping his left fist with Alpha's right, invoking no other reaction from him, "Good to see you're still alive and kicking, man. Honestly a little surprising you haven't managed to get yourself shot dead yet."

"Captain," Alpha nodded, "I endeavour to be difficult to predict. This is Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, of the quarian flotilla."

"Ah, yes." He said, turning to Tali and taking a small bow, "Captain Anthony Winters, at your service, Miss Zorah."

"Just Tali, thanks," Tali chirped in return, shaking the hand that he extended.

"I understand that you will be taking to Earth?" Alpha questioned.

"Yup. This way everyone." Winters and Richard conversed on the way to the ship. They eventually reached a small shuttle, large enough to fit the four of them.

"This is what we'll be going to Earth in?" Tali asked, nervously eyeing the shuttle. This thing was _not_ going to take them that far.

It was Winters who responded quickly, "Oh, no, no, no. This is just the ride to the actual ship. We can't be docking with the Citadel; to traceable. This has to be off the record."

The trip was short, and the shuttle flew quickly from the Wards, soon escaping the range of the Citadel. Tali was just about to ask where the ship was, when she saw through the viewport a frigate appear from FTL.

The bay door was open, and the shuttle was taken inside. The landing was rough, and Alpha had to grab her by the waist and pull her to him to prevent Tali from bouncing around like a large, fleshy pinball. The ship had arrived.

After a short period of recuperation, the group exited the shuttle and stepped out into a large cargo bay, much larger than that of the Normandy. Engineering and medical teams swooped in without need for an order, expertly checking the shuttle and the squad respectively.

Tali sniffled. Her nose was running. A male turian nurse noticed this instantly, and whisked her away to a small cart full of first aid and medical diagnostics equipment. She watched the others exit through a door as the nurse calmly and swiftly treated her, giving her a dose of some kind of medicine and sending her on her way in minutes, never once asking questions or faltering in his treatment. This was a bit odd, as quarians were usually much harder for doctors of other species to treat.

As she explored the ship, Tali was amazed at the efficiency of the crew. Everyone was either working or between jobs, but not a single person was in a bad mood. In fact, everyone she met would smile and say "hello" as she passed, never staring or acting in a way that would signify discomfort.

While the crew was mostly human, there were several turians, asari, and even salarians working about the Veins frigate. Even a few krogan were bustling about, all of them seemingly headed toward the same place. Tali decided to follow, her curiosity piqued. She found her way to a small recreational area, an idea still foreign to her, with a window overlooking what appeared to be a small arena.

As she looked on, she saw people gathering around the windows. The arena had windows on all sides, on two levels. Crewmembers were crowding around all of them. A human appeared next to her, a man about her height with pronounced muscles wearing casual clothing.

"Here to watch the fight too?" He asked, "Those greenies won't know what hit 'em."

"Who are you?" Tali asked.

"Oh, sorry, I'm enforcer Holden Medina. I was on Feros with the TactiCon team when that whole… thing went down."

Tali nodded, "What do you mean by 'greenies?'" she asked, seeking an explanation.

"Greenies are new guys. You came in with the Captain's team, right? Well, we have a few new krogan and turians, aboard looking to blow off some steam, and Alpha Black agreed to take them on in the ring. The guy has quite the reputation, so shields are disabled for the fight. They'll get a proper ass-whooping out of this."

As if on cue, the doors to the arena opened, and Alpha stepped out of one, clad in just his skin-layer suit and wielding nothing but his fists. From the other side, a group of fully armed troopers emerged, boasting light armor and basic riot guns, which was more than what Alpha had. Eight krogan, twelve turians, one human.

Alpha cast an omni-line from his wrist, latching onto the ceiling and flipping through the air, landing in the center of the arena, fists raised and ready. So he had been allowed his gear, at least. The men charged him, and Alpha let them come to him. He was outnumbered twenty to one, but of course he was unfazed.

He spun into a kick, sending the first one to the floor. Alpha sent another omni-line forward, grabbing hold of a turian and pulling himself through the air to him, crushing his rib cage. Grabbing the downed man's assault rifle, Alpha worked his way around in a circle, mowing down his targets.

_17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10,_ Tali counted in her mind the number of enemies left. When the rifle was empty, Alpha turned his body and drove his foot out behind him, landing a solid kick to the abdomen of a krogan there. He moved like fire, pummeling the krogan with his fists until the large alien fell.

_9_, Alpha picked up a charging krogan, hoisting him above his head and throwing him in one swift motion, sending the trooper careening across the arena by his own momentum. _8_, Alpha turned quickly, sending a line to the next opponent, pulling him in as the human twisted to one knee, planting his open hand in the krogan's chest, delivering a massive electric shock.

_7_, Alpha sent another overload from his hand, this time aiming to a turian well outside of arm's reach. _6_, the third krogan attempted to blast him with a shotgun, and the heavy rubber hit hard against its target. Alpha was staggered by the sudden impact, stumbling backwards several steps. The last six troopers were all krogan. They all repeated this process, keeping Alpha pinned under a hail of painful riot pellets.

Tali started to panic, pushing up against the glass instinctively, as if she could simply pass through. The man next to her was wide eyed, "They'll kill him at this rate! Someone do something!" Indeed, Alpha was actually collapsing under the combined firepower of six shotguns with no armor or shields to protect him.

He was looking at her, as if he expected her to act. She had left her weapons in the hold, naturally, so breaking the glass was out of the question. She stood, helpless as she watched her mentor get ripped to shreds by non-lethal rounds.

In a final act of defiance, Alpha picked himself up, and sprinted right at the group of krogan, right into the hail of gunfire. His helmet hid his face, but Tali could almost see the animal beneath, roaring horrifically. The glass actually let sound through, so everyone heard the roar.

Alpha moved as if he was forcing movement upon himself. His limbs moved with a stiffness brought on by pain. His body screamed at him to stop, to surrender. But he refused. He grabbed the two lead shotguns by the muzzles, jabbing the butts hard into the owners. Pulling up hard, he brought those same butt-ends to the jaws of the krogan, sending them reeling backwards.

He threw one to the side, and unloaded the second into his opponents, taking down three of them before running dry. The remaining three all charged in one coordinated attack. Alpha's arms crackled with the power of charged overloads, and he let loose two of the tech-based attacks at once, shocking two of the krogan into unconsciousness and stunning the third. The final krogan staggered up to Alpha, who promptly knocked him out with a fast headbutt.

The crowd cheered as Alpha fell to his knees, breathing hard and raising his fist in victory. His suit was already gaining large, red bloodstains from his bleeding skin beneath. After a moment of this, the super-soldier stood once more, and slowly staggered his way to the exit. Tali pushed through the crowd, rushing to the level below to meet Alpha. The man was about ready to topple over when she arrived. She worked on instinct, moving beneath his shoulder to provide support. Enforcer Medina was right behind her, moving to the other shoulder to do the same.

He half-collapsed onto them, letting them guide him to the medical wing. Actually, Medina led the way, Tali lacking knowledge of the layout of the ship. Alpha crashed down against the cot, barely able to mutter his thanks.

There, several doctors swarmed him, fussing over his wounds and battle tactics. They fastened him into place, as per standard procedure to ensure patients would remain still. Then one tried to disconnect his arm, saying, "Well, we'll have to remove the prosthetic to clean-"

In response, Alpha began to scream indiscriminately, fighting against his restraints and writhing to keep them away from his right arm. They pinned him down, attempting to remove his suit to get at the shoulder. He fought hard, but in his weakened state he was unable to hold them off. His screaming sounded terrified, squirming like a child trying to escape a needle. Tali could bear it no longer.

"Can't you see it's bothering him!? Stop it! STOP!" She shouted to be heard over the noise, shoving the doctors away and grabbing a scalpel from the tray, holding it like a knife and taking a battle stance, spreading her legs for maximum stability and bending her knees, just like she had seen Alpha do on occasion.

The doctors moved in again, calling her bluff. To show them her intentions, she grabbed the scalpel by the blade and threw it as hard as she could into the far wall, where it dug into place in the wooden cabinet.

"He taught me how to fight like that," She said aggressively, keeping from her voice the terror the situation brought, "So unless you want to end up like the troopers coming in right now, you'll go treat them and leave him to me."

They did just that, backing away with wide-eyed stares as she held herself in a brawling stance. When they had all moved to other things, Tali turned to a now-silent Alpha, undoing his bonds and helping him relax. She turned when she heard footsteps. Winters approached her with an approving expression.

"Heard the commotion from outside. If you want, I can take a look at the arm myself without detaching it," he gestured to his own synthetic limb, "I have extensive experience in that department." Alpha nodded, and the Captain took a mere minute to check him. He concluded that the arm was fine.

"Is there anywhere we can go that's more… private?" Tali asked, referring to Alpha.

"I'm not sure if he's in any shape for such activities, Miss Zorah." Anthony said slyly.

"Wh-what!? N-no, I- that's n-not what I-I meant!" Tali panicked.

The Captain chuckled, "I'm just kidding, Tali. I'll show you to the quarters you'll be using during your stay here. No one will bother you down there unless I personally tell them to."

He led them down the elevator, which was much faster than the Normandy's, to a level full of doors labeled with different names. These were the quarters. Winters led them to a room separated from the rest, down a small hallway and at the bottom of a short stairway.

He left them there, and the two entered the room. The suite was nothing to sneeze at, for sure. A bit like a human college dormitory room, Tali thought. She had researched such things at one time.

Alpha allowed Tali to gingerly sit him down on the bed, peeling away his suit with careful hands, removing the clothing down to his waist, ensuring that he was okay with it with constant glances at his helmeted face, exposing his chest and stomach. Tali had never seen this much of Alpha before, and she considered it a great privilege to do so, in no small part due to the fact that his body, while currently covered in blood and bruises, was… easy on the eyes.

She produced from her many pockets an array of medical supplies she had nicked from the medical wing. Tali went about gently applying disinfectant and medi-gel to his wounds. Nothing severe, for once, inflicted Alpha's body, much to her relief. After treating his frontside, Tali moved to cleaning his arm, which was, in all fairness, rather filthy with his blood.

She then moved to his back, kneeling behind him on the bed and repeating the process from his front. This time, though, Alpha would occasionally twitch away from the sting of the treatments. "Hold still," She said gently, "I can't do this if you keep moving." He nodded, and Tali finished up. When she moved to remove his helmet, his hand shot up to grab her wrist. He was stiff and shaking.

"It's okay," Tali said comfortingly, "I just want to check to make sure your head is okay too." After a moment, Alpha relaxed. He had never let anyone else remove his helmet while he was conscious. Tali moved extra slowly now, lifting his bucket from his head, revealing a battered and bruised face underneath. His eyes were dilating and contracting, staring deeply into her own glowing eyes. It occurred to Tali that, to Alpha, this was a monumental act of trust.

She worked with gentle hands, cleaning his face of blood and applying medi-gel to wounds. As she finished, she sneezed. "Ngh, bosh'tet," she muttered; Her infection was rearing its head again. She started shivering slightly as the fever made her feel cold.

Without hesitation, Alpha pulled Tali into a tight hug, laying back on the bed and turning so that they lay on the length of the appliance. Tali squealed, and Alpha just muttered repeatedly, "This is the mission, complete the mission. This is the mission, complete the mission. Complete the mission. Complete the mission. Complete the mission. Complete the mission…"

Tali remembered hearing The Founder say to Alpha in his message that Alpha's mission was to protect her. Her actions to take care of him, paired with her sickness, must have triggered a protective instinct. He was shaking slightly, as if he was suppressing tears.

To comfort him, Tali relaxed, placing her head on his shoulder and her palm on his chest. She curled up a little on top of the human, shifting slightly to get comfortable. Strangely enough, she felt totally comfortable with this arrangement. She soon drifted off to sleep to the steady rhythm of Alpha's heartbeat, and the now-relaxed, slow pace of his breathing.

""""""

Alpha awoke to a weight on his chest. He looked down to see a quarian, clad in purple, laying in peaceful slumber on top of his prone form. Tali. He closed his eyes for a moment, simply savoring in the serenity that was so rare for him. It was at this moment that he reflected on his life.

He was always the one to push the limits, to throw himself into harm's way without so much as a second thought. He could hardly think of a time when he had returned from a mission without having gathered at least one new scar along the way. Violence was not just his life, he was the violence itself. And yet, as he lay there in silence, something tugged at Alpha's mind, as if something was trying to break free.

His train of thought was interrupted when he felt movement. Tali stirred on top of him, yawning cutely as she awoke. When she looked up at him tiredly, she suddenly froze, going wide-eyed as the current situation dawned on her. "U-uh, I-I, um," She stammered, scrambling to pick herself up.

Alpha countered by softly placing his hand on the back of her neck, applying light pressure to guide her back down. He locked eyes with her, "Stop worrying," he said as gently as he could, "Are you cold? We are atop the covers."

"N-no, I'm alright," she said softly, letting him lead her back to his chest, "Are you?"

Alpha let out a small "heh" before responding, "No. I am currently functioning at an external temperature of 30 degrees Celsius. I increased my thermal output slightly for the sake of your comfort."

"Mm," Tali hummed her acknowledgement, nestling down against her human companion's torso, placing both palms on his chest. She appreciated the warmth. Alpha began to slowly run his hands up and down her back, to which Tali asked, "What are you doing?"

Alpha stopped, his eyes starting to dilate and contract. "I…" he trailed off. Tali waited for him to answer, but no answer escaped his lips. After a full minute, Tali realised that his eyes had stopped their cycle (of which she figured meant that he was thinking), and were now simply staring at her. He had no answer. Tali giggled.

"I… I do not know," Alpha managed to work out, "I… suppose that it is just something I… picked up somewhere. A behavior that I observed in organics. Do you wish me to cease?"

"No," Tali said, once again resting her head on his collarbone, "I was just curious. The great Alpha Black, stumped by his own actions. Amazing." Alpha could swear that he could hear her grin as she spoke. Nevertheless, he resumed the motion, running his hands lightly over the surface of her suit.

They stayed like that for a long while, until eventually Tali got hungry, and reluctantly got up to let Alpha suit up so the two could go and eat. The time was 0900 standard, and the crew was lively. When Tali and Alpha walked into the mess hall, they received only a few puzzled looks. A tall, heavily armored human and a short, energetic quarian walking side-by-side was an odd sight.

As they took their respective meals, Alpha with a tray of relatively mundane foodstuffs and Tali a tube of nutrient paste (after basically the entire cooking staff apologized profusely for the lack sterilized dextro food), and headed back to their cabin, Tali noticed an asari, wearing a skirt, of all things, attempting to grab her human's attention with expressions and gestures that spoke a not-too-subtle emotional connection.

Alpha responded by cracking his neck stiffly, otherwise showing no sign of acknowledgement as he visibly gripped his steel tray harder, making indents in the metal. Tali found herself feeling somewhat territorial with the presence of the asari woman. It did not help when she approached the pair from behind, gripping Alpha in a tight hug, an action for which he denied a response. Instead, he tensed up further, and Tali heard a faint growl emanate from him.

"Hey Alpha," she said in a voice that made Tali sick, "who's the lame suit-rat?" Tali was nearly brought to tears at this collective onslaught of emotional bombardment, topped with direct insult to literal injury; she was still limping from her broken ankle on Noveria.

That was the last straw for the human warrior. He dropped his tray, whipping around with his elbow extended, knocking her back with a sharp _thwack_. He grabbed her by the collar of her shirt with one hand, grabbing her by the side of the head with the other.

"Say that again," Alpha growled, "You will die. I promise." When the woman made no response, he headbutted her, releasing her as he did so. Tali was more than a little surprised to find herself feeling rather satisfied at this punctuation of his point.

"So, what, is she your new girlfriend or something?" the asari mocked him.

Alpha snapped, drawing his revolver on her. "Your definition of a significant other is defined poorly, Amala. After what you have done to me? I should kill you where you stand. And now you disgrace me with your presence here, on this ship. Not only that, but you insult my companion and slander my reputation. I have half a mind to have you shot, and the other half to shoot you myself. I swear to you, if I ever see your face again, I will not hesitate to put a hole in it. Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?"

Amala nodded rapidly, and scampered off to some corner of the frigate. Tali heard Captain Winters mutter to one of his officers at a table, "Ensure she doesn't get anywhere near those two. I want to push to have that bitch discharged when we get planetside." No one protested against Alpha's actions. Some even cheered. Evidently, not many people liked this Amala woman.

Alpha picked up his tray and food, and headed down to the cabin with Tali in silence. When they reached their cabin, though, the first thing Alpha did was discard his helmet, showing the reddened face beneath. Tali instinctively put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him as he forced himself to remain calm. He put his own hand over hers, turning his head to look at her.

After a moment of silence, Tali broke down. She opened her mouth to cry, but Alpha was faster. He suddenly stood, wrapping one arm around her waist and pulling her close, using his other to cradle her head against his chest. Tali then began to quietly sob. Alpha closed his eyes, breathing deeply.

He needed to be strong right now. Tali needed him to be strong. He opened his eyes, guiding her to the bed again, he sat down and let her curl up in his lap, crying herself to sleep over the course of an hour. When he lay her on the bed, she slept soundly. He moved to the opposite bed, ready for finishing his night's rest himself.

""""""

_Alpha Log #206: August 2179: The Arkon_

_I have finally returned from Operation Artery. Six weeks lost in that thrice-damned forest. Over two dozen soldiers lost during the last day alone, a total of 61 dead, leaving only 39 people alive including myself. Our enemy was well-armed and trained in the art of combat. I am told that these men also attacked Arkon Station above. Winters was there to save it from falling into enemy hands._

_My Commanding Officer was killed within the first week. After that, command fell to me. Hardly a day went by in which we did not lose at least one person. Despite my failure, The Founder is promoting me to his personal agent. I am uncertain that I deserve this, but Mr. Black has always been the best at making these decisions._

Tali sat by the bed, brushing off a crew member that attempted to treat her new bruises. She held back tears as Alpha once again lay unconscious before her, his body wracked with wounds and damages from his thrashing earlier. As Winters stood over him, scanning him for the hundredth time with his omni-tool, he looked over at Tali.

"You should really get some sleep, Tali," the Captain advised, "you've been up for ten hours now, on six hours of sleep total. You'll pass out soon yourself."

Tali shook her head, "No, I'm staying with him." Anthony sighed, resigning to her defiance. She had been through a lot.

Amala had broken into their cabin, drugging Alpha and binding Tali before she could fight back. Tali shook at the memory. Amala had shorted her voice transmitter, and thrown her against the far wall before savagely beating her. But that was nothing compared to what had happened to Alpha.

The asari had chained him to the bed frame, stripping him of his clothes and removing her own. Tali had then been forced to watch as Amala raped Alpha while the human super-soldier wasn't even conscious. When Alpha had awakened, he had completely lost all control.

"_I WILL RIP YOUR FACE FROM YOUR SKULL AND SEND IT TO YOUR MOTHER!_" She remembered Alpha screaming at the top of his lungs. Amala had treated the death threat like sexual banter. When she had gone to kiss him, Alpha responded by headbutting her, with bloodlust in his eyes. That expression on his face haunted her. It hadn't been just anger, it had been a need to kill, to rip flesh from bone with his bare hands.

Amala had then dosed him again with a powerful aphrodisiac, as the doctors told her afterward. She had watched as Alpha broke his right arm free of its chains, struggling against Amala for control of the needle. He had grunted, growled, _screamed_ at the asari on top of him, his mechanical arm whining against her biotically-reinforced strength.

Tali had been able to see the struggle against the drugs, visible in his face. He had fought his everything he had, calling her a traitor and a bitch. But his strength was slowly eroded by the overwhelming influence of the aphrodisiac. Tali remembered the sickening smile the asari had had on her face as she saw this. Tali had been helpless. Useless.

The horror had only ceased when Captain Winters had kicked down the door, carrying an old M4 assault rifle and tailed by Richard's Tactical Reconnaissance team. He had unloaded the rifle into Amala's back, pounding lead into her body until nothing but a bloody mess remained. The TactiCon team had cut Tali loose, while Winters had taken his sidearm and shot the chains that had bound Alpha.

Now she sat here, by his bedside in their quarters, exhausted from the wait but determined to remain conscious. She needed to make sure he would be okay.

Then, after the two hours of silent waiting, Alpha's eyes opened. Doctors buzzed around him, taking readings and scans. Tali perked up, leaning forward with a hand on his arm. Then she noticed that his eyes were dark; the yellow glow was entirely absent.

"I'd like to see you move more than an inch, you fat fuck," Alpha muttered, speaking to someone only he cold see, "I killed the samurai, now you get to die on his steel."

"What's wrong with him?" Tali asked, panicking.

"He's delirious," Winters said, his own expression falling, "that asari… _bitch_ filled him with enough tranq to put a krogan into comatose, and enough aphrodisiac to kill one. We're lucky he's even this aware, with the drugs the doctors had to give him on top of that. At least we know he won't die."

"I'd like to see you try, you over-bloated tub." Alpha muttered before losing consciousness again.

As the doctors dispersed, Winters placed a hand on Tali's shoulder, "Really, get some rest. Can't have you ending up like that too." he paused by the door, "Take care of him, will you?" He left the cabin, leaving only Alpha and Tali in the otherwise empty room as the lights went into night mode.

She climbed onto the bed with him, curling up next to him on what little space was unoccupied. Tali tried to get as comfortable as possible, and settled down to sleep. Then Alpha, in his own drug-induced unconsciousness, shifted to pull her onto him, bringing her to rest on him. She gently removed his mask that concealed his face, smiling weakly as she got comfortable on his bare chest, his lower half now covered with a pair of pants.

Alpha mumbled something in his sleep, and Tali rubbed his shoulder with her hand. "It's alright, big guy," she said softly, beginning to cry with mixed emotions, "you're okay."

"Tali…" Alpha murmured, as if calling out for her. He sounded as though she might be hurt.

"I'm here," Tali whispered, "I'm here, don't worry. I'm safe. We're safe. It's okay." She drifted off to sleep as they clutched each other.

""""""

She was lying on the bed, without anyone with her. Tali opened her eyes to see Alpha was absent. There was a pile of weapons by his desk. She got up, and retrieved a pump-action shotgun from the pile, taking a few practice shots to make sure she knew how to efficiently operate the gun. She holstered a familiar-looking revolver as well.

She then opened the door, only to find herself in a thick forest, as Alpha's calm voice said from nowhere and everywhere, "I remember the Arkon. The sounds of enemy gunfire, the sickening sound of a man's innards splattering against a tree, the noise of a soldier firing his pistol at me, desperate to kill me before I could kill him. The feeling I got when he failed. The blood o my skin. All of it conducted by Death himself, a symphony of agony. The music to my battalion's march, lost in the endless forest."

Tali then found herself standing in the sounds of a skirmish. She looked around, getting her bearings, as a familiar voice came through the trees, "Move forward! Fight until you fall!" Alpha. She ran through the forest, towards the sound of gunfire. When that stopped, she followed the sound of footsteps, and blades cutting through the thick overgrowth.

She remembered this. This was the battle for the Arkon. A story that Alpha had told her in exquisite detail.

Eventually, she found herself in the midst of Veins Troopers, who didn't so much as give her a second glance as she worked her way to the front, searching for her friend. From the front, she heard him again, "They can take our hearts, they can take our breath, when they pry them from our cold, dead, chests!"

The troops chanted back, "Until our hearts stop beating, and our lungs stop breathing, we keep pushing on!"

Then, as one, they all shouted, "FORWARD UNTO DAWN!"

Tali pushed her way forward, until she finally saw him, in front of everyone, leading his troops fearlessly, assault rifle in one hand, knife in the other, cutting through the brush. After a time, they stopped in a clearing. "Rest your feet," Alpha called, "We camp here for the night." Indeed, it was getting dark.

As the troopers set up tents, Tali made her way to Alpha, standing with his arms folded over his chest, observing his people work. She put a hand on his shoulder, and he turned around. He was wearing nothing over his face, so his expression was clear: He was shocked to see her.

"Tali'Zorah!?" He exclaimed, quickly recovering. "You should not have come here," Alpha said grimly, "This is my fight."

"Our fight." Tali said defiantly, brandishing her shotgun and cocking it for emphasis.

Alpha shook his head, "You are here now," He gestured to the forest around them, "These drugs are extremely bothersome. I swear to you, when I see her again, I will reduce Amala to a bloody pulp."

"She's dead, Alpha," Tali reminded him, "Captain Winters killed her very dead." She used a sort of improper grammar she had heard some of the crewmembers use, in an effort to bring him something familiar.

"Good." He said simply.

The two entered his tent, discussing tactics. "This battle," Alpha explained, "The Arkon. My battalion is lost on a new planet, under fire from rebels. I predict that the battle itself will be named after Arkon Station, under construction in orbit above, but that is not important. What matters is that we get out alive."

"And how do we do that?"

Alpha racked the slide on his sidearm, "We win. This battle was one of my hardest, and many of the soldiers under my command have died already. Let's not join them, shall we?"

When the morning came, they headed out once again into the forest. Alpha was soon joined by a man, wearing trooper's armor and holding a standard rifle.

"How much farther to the extraction zone, Wolf? The men are growing restless."

"One klick, Arthur," Alpha responded. Tali nodded, and they marched on in silence for a time, before gunfire erupted all around them. Tali immediately fell to one knee, firing at the muzzle flashes. Alpha charged forward, shooting in short bursts.

Tali raced after Alpha, reloading her weapon as she ran. She found him after a short time of running, kneeling in the mud, head in his hands. The sounds of gunfire were distant, and Tali saw that the dirt had only turned to mud from the overabundance of blood, from the dozen bodies that lay scattered around Alpha.

She crouched down next to him. "I… I cannot," Alpha groaned, "Not again. Everyone is dead because of me! None of this is real! This will not change anything! Why!? Why am I alive and they are not!?" He paused, dropping his hands, "I was so alone. No one could survive where I did. I came out alive, alone, always. So many dead because of me!"

Tali placed her hands on the sides of his face, making him look at her. "You're not alone anymore. Those men and women signed up for this. If you give up now, if you lay down and die, their sacrifices will be for nothing. Now stand up, Alpha. We have a battle to win."

He nodded, his expression growing determined. He picked up his rifle, and got to his feet. She was right, this was not over. He had a mission to complete.

They charged back into battle, Alpha gunning down enemies ahead while Tali stayed behind him, eviscerating anyone at their rear. Together, they carved a path for the surviving troopers to escape through, out of the forest. To where Veins dropships were waiting. The soldiers came running, shooting behind them as the rebel forces were pushed back by the waiting dropships' guns.

As they boarded the ship, Alpha was suddenly pulled backwards, falling back to the ground. Amala stood with her biotics flared, pulling him back out. Alpha bellowed with rage as he struggled against the invisible field.

Tali leapt out of the ship after him as it took off. This was certainly not part of history. "_Well,_" Tali thought to herself as she brought her shotgun to bear, "_No harm in changing it, then, right?_" Before she could get a shot off, though, the asari pulled the gun from her hands with another biotic attack. Tali cursed.

Alpha dropped to the ground moving at a dead sprint, charging into Amala and knocking her back. But it was ultimately futile. He tangled with the dead asari for what felt like forever, throwing punch after punch, only to be thrown back by yet another biotic missile.

Tali instinctively drew her revolver, taking careful aim at Amala. Her mind flashed back to the moment Alpha first taught her to shoot the weapon. How he had gotten so close, with not a thought or motion that would indicate that he saw anything wrong about it. She took a deep breath, and squeezed the trigger like she had then. "_Bullseye_." she thought to herself.

Indeed, the bullet struck home, sinking deep into Amala's stomach. "No fair!" the asari cried, "There are two of you!"

Tali sauntered over, keeping the gun aimed at her from the hip. She snarled, "There has been two of us for a while now, bitch. And there always will be." She took aim at the woman's face, right between the eyes, "You should never have hurt my human."

She squeezed the trigger.

Alpha stood slowly, embracing her as he whispered, "This is not real. This is just a dream."

Tali looked at him, confused and rapidly growing worried, "What are you talking about?"

"It is time to wake up, Tali'Zorah."

"""""""

The quarian awoke, gasping for air. Tali was freezing on the bed, and Alpha was pushed up against the wall, now propping himself up on his elbows. His eyes were ablaze with that signature yellow glow again, and were trained on her. "Apologies, but you were about to oversleep." was all he managed to work out in a hoarse voice before Tali threw her arms around him, nuzzling up against his chest. He had not really been inside her dream, but she was glad anyway.

"You're okay!" she cried, hugging him so tightly that he started coughing.

"Careful," Alpha warned semi-jokingly, "If you restrict my breathing too much, I might go out again."

"Oh, shut up, you bosh'tet," Tali giggled, playfully knuckling his shoulder. She did loosen her death grip, though. "I was so worried you would never wake up," the tears threatened to return.

He stroked her back soothingly, "It takes a lot more than some sleep to put me down, Tali'Zorah."

"You make it sound like it's nothing. You could have died!"

Alpha huffed, "It _was_ nothing, with your safety driving me forward. I am going to go kill Amala now. And maybe not let myself get drugged anymore."

"She's dead, Alpha. Captain Winters killed her." Tali reminded him carefully.

He did not seem upset in the least. "Good. I only regret that I could not have done it myself."

"Promise you won't leave me all alone again? We're a team." Tali locked eyes with the larger human.

"I promise."

"Good." Tali stated, returning once again to resting on his chest.

"We should get up soon." Alpha said regretfully.

"Mmm," was Tali's only response. She stayed put. He was warm. Alpha sighed, settling down to wait out the rest of the trip. They would arrive on Earth in six hours.

When they did, they received a hero's welcome. People of every sapient species gathered by the docks to meet Alpha Black, the arm of The Founder and bringer of death to his enemies. Tali shied away from the crowds of reporters that swarmed them, asking questions like, "Mr. Black, is it true that you threw a Mako? Mr. Black, what are your thoughts about the death of Matriarch Benezia? Mr. Black, the people want to see who's under that armor! Mr. Black, who's the suit-rat?"

The human with the audacity to ask the last question got their response in the form of getting slugged in the guts and and an elbow to the back of the head when they doubled over. Alpha was sick and tired of people calling Tali that. Eventually, the TactiCon team had to push ahead to make a path through the crowd for the pair to move forward.

While the people swarmed back to the ship's docking bay to interrogate Captain Winters, Tali pulled Alpha forward by the hand, eager to escape the mob that made her feel claustrophobic. The shuttle to Second Eden was waiting and ready. The ride was fast and smooth. When they finally flew over the city's outer limits and into the massive utopia, Tali was awestruck.

Buildings a hundred stories tall towered over an absolutely gargantuan network of monorails, roads, and sidewalks. Not a single personal vehicle was in sight, apart from the many bicycles being the only things on the roads. The roads themselves were black with the solar panels beneath the thick glass. The sidewalks, too.

As she pressed up against the viewport, looking out over the beautiful cityscape, Alpha found himself instead looking at her. Not only because he had seen this city many times, but because he just could not seem to pry his eyes away. He was just glad that she was not able to see where he was looking.

When they landed at the edge of a large crater, they stepped out to see a massive ship under construction, shielded from above by an equally large retractable dome. A man in a black leather trench coat appeared next to them, crossing his arms over his chest as he gave a proud smile. His eyes were covered by a pair of distinct-looking sunglasses.

"A real beauty, ain't she?" he asked them, turning to shake Alpha's hand.

"It looks to be 'a real tomato' Mr. Founder, sir." Alpha responded crisply, accepting the hand.

"Wait," Tali said, growing giddy, "_You're_ The Founder!? The one Alpha talked to when he got this assignment? Keelah, you're _young_!" Indeed, the man could not have been any older than his early twenties.

Alpha whipped around to face her, ready to scold her for her behavior. The Founder raised his hand to stop him. "It's quite alright, Alpha; Ms. Tali'Zorah, I expect, is a bit overwhelmed right now. And you know I prefer a casual approach."

"Understood." Alpha said, relaxing as he went to observe the construction from the guard rail.

The Founder turned to Tali, "And to answer your questions, yes I am The Founder, the one Alpha spoke to. And no, I am not young. I am almost two centuries old. This is merely a surrogate body, cloned from my original, that has been specially grown and given implants to allow me to control it remotely. But yes, the body is about twenty-six years old now."

Tali spent the next few hours gleefully discussing the technology required for such an operation with the man, who insisted that she refer to him as Atlas. After they were done, an engineer approached her, asking for her help. She accepted excitedly. The Founder then moved to Alpha, leaning up against the railing next to him.

"I like her. You have my approval, to be sure." He said, nodding towards Tali as she worked down in the crater below.

"No," Alpha said sharply, "No, that is not how this is. It is too dangerous for her. We are friends, and nothing more."

Atlas nodded slowly, "I heard what happened with Amala. I'm sorry for you, not for her. Bitch got what was coming to her, if you ask me. But if I were in your shoes right now, I'd be denying this even harder. It'll be hard to start again, but I implore you to take your time and consider this here. Amala was a clingy little whore, but this little quarian has something about her that I like. I dunno. It's up to you, but either way, her expertise will be valuable here."

Alpha flexed his fingers slowly, looking at his hands as he did so. He gave an exasperated sigh, "I have no idea, father. I find myself observing her intently, without any logical reason to focus on her. My instincts are constantly pushing me to protect her, to train her…" He paused, before saying quietly, "To impress her. What is happening to me, father?"

Atlas shook his head, "Nothing you can't handle, Alpha. I adopted you when you came to us because I knew that you were different. I wanted to ensure that you could learn to interact properly with the world around you. You've come a long way, but emotions were never your strong suit. At this juncture, I can't say for sure whether it's your instinct to follow your mission, or something from your organic side. Either way, let's just give it some time. She seems to trust you, at least."

Alpha nodded in agreement, before clenching his fist angrily, "Damn my organic components!" He said harshly, "I would have been far more fortunate to have been placed in a body like that of Vindicator Zero."

Atlas suddenly turned to him, his face stern, "No. Don't you go talking like that. Does Zero get assigned to non-Veins ships? No. Does Zero get to hang out with anyone he pleases? No. Does Zero get to spend time with jazzy little quarians who make his heart go wild? Hell No. He gets to go out and kill geth and rogue machines, then leave before anyone can see him. Zero doesn't even officially _exist_, let alone choose whether or not he shows his face to anyone."

Alpha paused for a moment, then nodded slowly, "You… are correct. My organics do have their benefits. I suppose I should be grateful."

Atlas waved his hand dismissively as he turned to go take care of business, "Whether or not you should be grateful is entirely up to you. What you _shouldn't_ be is _envious_."

Down in the construction site, Tali finished working on a part of the ship's atmospheric system. Tali was positively giddy down here; She was normally used to working on old junkers in the Flotilla or the terminals on the Normandy. The Veins equipment was far different from anything she had ever seen before, and the fact that she got to work with brand-new hardware and tools exhilarated her. She almost failed to notice The Founder approaching her.

"Enjoying our tech, scrapper?" Atlas asked friendlily.

"It's great!" Tali exclaimed enthusiastically, "I usually don't get the chance to work on stuff like this. It's all so… new! Not a used part in sight, and I've seen pieces here that I've never seen before! And everyone is so nice!"

Atlas laughed, "Yeah, we're a pretty fun crowd. Most people here have actually seen a quarian before, so it's not so, ehe, alien to them." He paused as Tali snickered at the pun, "But yeah, the parts are all freshly forged on-site from recycled materials. We accept nothing but the best, especially when the best isn't the most expensive. Our requisition teams are always bringing in new scrap for things like this."

"I wish we could do that on the Flotilla." Tali said wistfully, "but this is nice. It's refreshing to be able to work with so many nice people who aren't quarians."

"Well," The Founder offered suggestively, "you know who else is real nice? The guy you came here with. Guy's a real ice cube, but I get the feeling you might be able to do a little melting."

"Alpha?" Tali picked up the hint, sighed, "I don't know, Atlas. He's been through a lot lately. And he's way out of my league. He could have anyone he wants, but refuses to take anyone. Why would he ever choose me?"

"Because he likes you." Atlas said plainly.

"How do you know? The way I understand, the last person he 'liked' ended up under his death stare."

"Because you don't have thirty lead bullets in your back." Atlas said flatly, referring to Amala's death.

Tali leaned against the framework, "Maybe so. Even then, what would I do? He's so… different."

"Different?"

"Yes, with the way he never lets anything get to him, or how he's so focused all the time, or how he's always throwing himself into harm's way, always so selfless, brave," Tali trailed off into a dreamy tone, "Always so brave. And his muscles, so… muscular. And really smart, he always has a plan, or improvises one if he has to. And his eyes…"

Atlas chuckled, "Yep. Sounds to me like he's made quite an impression on you." Tali snapped out of her daydreaming, blushing beneath her visor. He leaned in, speaking in a low voice, "I know this place, only a couple klicks out from here. A neat little club where people tend to go to have fun. You guys will be here for a little while, and I happen to know that Alpha has nothing planned this afternoon. Ask him out to Cauterizer; He'll say yes, I guarantee it. He needs to unwind a bit with someone like you."

"Someone like me?"

The Founder nodded, moving past her to the rest of the site, "Someone he trusts. Someone new who can have a little fun." He went to talk to his workers, as if nothing had happened.

Tali made her way up to the lip of the construction pit, wandering around for a bit as she mulled over The Founder's suggestion. She made up her mind when she found Alpha in the nearby fitness center, throwing kicks and punches at a heavy bag, still in his full suit of armor.

He turned as she approached, halting his exercise and silently looking at her, tilting his head expectantly. She took a deep breath, gathered her courage, and asked, "Hey, Alpha. I heard about a place nearby called Cauterizer. Do you… m-maybe… w-want to g-go with me?" She had to focus to hold her nervousness at bay. Alpha wouldn't want to see weakness.

He seemed to think about it, and for a moment Tali thought he was looking at her in disgust. "_Why would I go with you?_" she could hear him say, "_Do you really think I would go with the likes of you? With a weak little quarian? As if._"

Her fears were eliminated when he instead said, "Why? Is there no one else who will go with you?"

"N-no!" Tali stammered. When Alpha cocked his head questioningly, she quickly added, "I-I meanー no, that's not what it is. I just want to go with you is all."

"Me?" He seemed utterly confounded by her statement. Tali's fear began to resurface.

"Y-yes."

Alpha paused, like he was having a hard time comprehending the notion, "Would you not rather go with someone else? I am certain that there are others that would make far better company than myself."

It was then that Tali realised that Alpha had not thought of her as not good enough, but rather doubted himself as a partner for such activities. She relaxed a bit, her confidence building "No, I want to go with you. Is that a problem?"

"No, just surprising." They walked out of the building to go get ready.

* * *

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	12. Live Fast, Die yet Again

Alpha awoke with a start. He must have nodded off during the shuttle ride. They had spent a week on Earth, and Tali had been reluctant to leave. Alpha, on the other hand, was eager to get back into the fight. He had not slept at all during the excursion, and though he refused to admit it, he was exhausted.

Tali, by contrast, had slept like a baby every night. Even now, she lay across the seats opposite him, sleeping silently. If not for her subtle movements from breathing and the occasional shift in position, Alpha might have started to suspect that she was dead or in comatose. The members of Richard's TactiCon team were scattered about the hold, sleeping in their respective seats.

"Certainly a sound sleeper." He muttered to himself as he entered the cockpit. They were using a Veins long-range VTOL-fighter as a shuttle. Atlas was currently at the controls, leisurely checking his displays as they traveled through FTL to the Sol relay. If nothing else, the Veins was ahead of their time when it came to their transportation. This VTOL was just half the size of the Normandy, and it was capable of FTL travel.

He quietly placed himself in the copilot's chair, glancing at his own displays before running self-diagnostics with one of his his omni-tools. The Founder noticed this, and turned to him.

"What's the problem?" he asked his adopted son.

"Why does there have to be a problem?" Alpha asked impatiently, "Why can I not sit here with you without there being a problem?"

Atlas smiled sympathetically, "Because you could do your diagnostics back in the hold," he pointed back to the main hold, where Tali was still sleeping, "No, you're here because there's a problem, and you can't decide whether or not to ask me for help." Alpha remained silent, and Atlas looked him over. "No sleep?"

Alpha nodded. Atlas sighed, "Again? Alpha, you haven't slept in a week. You do this all the time; sooner or later you're just going to drop!"

Alpha flexed his fingers, powering down his omni-tool, "I have an… itch. I want to get back into the fight, to shoot something, to kill something, to rip it apart with my hands."

Atlas shook his head, "That's not it and you know it."

Alpha paused for a long time. "I must remain vigilant. The last time I allowed myself to succumb to sleep, Tali was harmed, and I was raped. I need to ensure her safety."

Atlas thought for a time before speaking, "Well, right now, you're both safe. I got a full night's rest, and won't need to sleep for at least a dozen hours now. Get some rest, man. You'll need it if you want to protect her adequately."

Alpha grew defensive. "Do not tell me how to do my job!" he snapped.

Atlas raised his hands defensively, "I'm not. I'm not talking down to you, shouting or yelling at you, nor am I ordering you. I'm not even speaking to you as an agent or soldier. I'm trying to help you, as your friend and father. Do what you feel is best; I can only advise you as to what I think is best for you."

Alpha relaxed. It was true. Atlas had been speaking to him calmly and patiently, without a hint of anger in his voice. He had not spoken forcefully, but had almost asked him to get some rest.

Tali poked her head into the cockpit, sleep in her eyes. "Alpha? Is everything alright?"

Alpha looked at his father, who just raised his eyebrows at him. Alpha sighed, getting up from his seat, "Everything is fine, Tali'Zorah. I just required some 'fatherly advice' is all."

"Okay," Tali said tiredly. She looked at The Founder, "How long until we get there?"

Atlas responded crisply, "ETA 6 hours until Sol Relay, 2 hours until Citadel." He turned to look at her, "That answer your question?"

Tali nodded, thanking him as she and Alpha moved back into the body of the craft. Tali resumed her sleep from earlier, and the human, though he remained sitting, leaned back against the seat and did his best to catch a few winks before they reached the Citadel.

When they did, Alpha awoke this time to Tali gently shaking him. "Wake up, sleepyhead. We're here."

Alpha grunted as he stretched his stiff limbs. He got up from his seat to see that they had just entered Citadel space. He walked around a bit, working the stiffness from his joints. He moved to the cockpit to check on Atlas. At first, all seemed well, then The Founder held a finger to his ear, listening to radio chatter. His face turned to shock as he pulled the ship into a steep turn, whipping the nimble craft around to face the relay once again.

"What's going on!?" Tali shouted from the hold.

"Virmire!" Atlas shouted in rare desperation, "Normandy is on Virmire! Saren's base! They've gone dark!"

Alpha cursed as everyone took their seats but him, as he stayed in the doorway, bracing himself with an iron grip on both sides. "How long have they been gone!?"

"An hour!" Atlas shouted, entering the relay while simultaneously entering coordinates, "Fuck, fuck, FUCK! Come on, come on!" as they entered the jump, Atlas hit a marked button, and the engines roared with a power that could not have been healthy. "This thing was built for speed!" Atlas explained rapidly, "A long-range dropship-fighter hybrid! FTL capable- FUUUUCK!" He shouted as a shower of sparks came from the panel in front of him, burning his hands. He immediately began repairs.

They were there in mere minutes. The ship came blasting out of the jump only to seamlessly enter FTL, the afterburner-equipped engines leaving comet-like tails behind them. Virmire was a ten-minute trip at that speed, but to everyone aboard it felt like forever.

They broke atmosphere at mach 9, the engines returning to their normal state as they relied solely on atmospheric friction to slow them, not daring to waste even a single moment. They came to a normal flight speed as they neared team Normandy's recorded drop zone.

The VTOL came to a moving hover as they advanced along the path, using the twin mounted minigun turrets to gun down enemies below. Geth, by the silver gleam.

"Alright, drop here!" Atlas shouted to the group as they caught up with the familiar white Mako. The TactiCon team and Tali fast roped down, but Alpha stayed put. He had a plan.

When his father looked at him expectantly, Alpha pointed forward, "Drop me just up ahead! I spotted a geth emplacement that I can take out!" Atlas nodded, and took off.

"I'll do what I can to scout ahead for the main base!"

Tali watched with dismay as the ship left with Alpha in it. But there would be time for wondering why later. There were geth that needed killing. Alongside her crewmates on the Normandy ground team, and the increasingly familiar TactiCon team, Tali steeled herself and pushed forward, obliterating any geth that got too close with her shotgun.

As they made their way to a geth outpost, Tali had a sinking feeling as she saw the various defenses. As they advanced, the VTOL soared overhead, and without slowing, Alpha leapt out from the ship, weapons bared.

Tali now charged ahead desperately, fearing for Alpha's life. The others did their best to keep up. When she saw him, he had landed in the center of the outpost, wielding his twin pistols. He moved like a force of nature, absorbing oncoming fire like it was nothing, gunning down geth troopers, cutting through them like wax paper.

He stormed his way up the ramp, and Tali stood and watched in awe while the others did the same as they caught up to her. Alpha took one geth by the head, smashing it over the railing. He kicked another, sending it flying into the one behind it. The next, he installed two holes in its face, one from each pistol.

He opened the gate by headbutting the final robot into the switch. As the Mako and company moved forward, Alpha leapt down to land atop the tank, sliding down to join the rest on foot. Then, over the radio, Atlas shouted, "Shit! I found the base! Getting pounded by AA guns!" He then changed to a more regretful tone as the ship went down over the base in the distance, barely visible, "Shit, I hate this part."

"NOOO!" Alpha roared, watching helplessly as his adopted father died in a blaze of glory.

Without a word, they moved forward until they reached the STG camp. There, Alpha took to sitting by the shallow water, watching the horizon for no particular reason, he found. He just discovered that he enjoyed the view.

Tali walked up beside him, taking a seat silently to his right. They sat like that for a moment, before Alpha decided he simply could not take the tension. "He's not really dead," he blurted out, and Tali just looked at him patiently, waiting for him to continue.

"Well, that body is dead," Alpha went on, half rambling, "But my father is still alive. He controls those bodies remotely. So he will come back, but I still hate it. He still feels all of the pain of dying. If you or I were to die, that would be it, and the pain would eventually stop. But he has to feel himself die, feel that pain, then come back in a new body and do it all again. I wanted so badly to save him, to stop that torture. Iー"

Tali cut him off with a tight embrace. "I'm so sorry, Alpha," she consoled him, "I really am. It's hard to lose a parent; I lost my mother when I was very young. At least Atlas can come back to see you again." she drew back to look at him, "That's probably why he comes back at all; because he knows that if he comes back and goes through that pain, he gets to keep seeing the people he cares about."

Alpha sighed. She was right, as usual. But for one thing. "Actually," he said almost humorously, "He probably comes back because no one else is anywhere near as qualified to run the Veins. That, and the fact that he is exactly that kind of person, to come back from death.

They stood at the sound of Wrex shouting. He turned to see John arguing with the large krogan. Alpha sighed, "Jane is far better with words. This can only end poorly." Tali nodded her worried agreement.

Alpha lumbered over to the two men, gathering that the argument was about a supposed cure for the genophage that Saren had in the base. Alpha pushed the two apart, and grabbed Wrex. "Look here, Urdnot," he snarled, already tired of the krogan's shit, "Those krogan in there? They are nothing but mindless puppets for Saren to control. And I am about to kill every last one of them, whether you must join that count or not. If you want a cure, you can find it without endangering the galaxy. My father just died for this mission. I am not about to let you get in my way."

Wrex seemed to think for a moment, then raised his hands in defeat, prompting Alpha to release him and return to his spot by the shore. Tali once again sat by him. She noticed that the TactiCon squad was passing the time by playing in the shallow water. Despite the impending mission, they found it within themselves to have fun. This gave her an idea.

Tali stood, prompting Alpha to follow her, and when she stopped in shin-deep water, Alpha cocked his head at her quizzically.

She giggled as she splashed water at him. He only looked on in confusion as the liquid hit him. "Oh, come on," Tali stuck out her hip, placing her hands on her waist, "Can't you have a little fun?" She huffed when Alpha failed to react, "Take your mind off of things for a minute and humor me, will you?"

For a second, Alpha still failed to react. Then he kicked water up into the air, splashing all over Tali, who squealed with both surprise and delight. The two played in the shallows for a time, until Alpha splashed water into the air as a smokescreen, and rushed Tali bodily, trapping her in a bear hug and lifting her into the air, making her scream playfully.

After that, the pair spent the rest of the down time lying on the sand, enjoying the relative quiet.

_Alpha Log: Quarians_

_Resist and bite. Fight tooth and nail. That is what they taught us, but now I am confused. I met a man today, and he was wearing some kind of strange armored bio-suit. When I asked him what he was, he seemed to measure me, as if he wanted to determine whether or not I meant any offense. I did not, and he seemed to quickly accept that._

_He told me that he is a "Quarian," another species from elsewhere in the galaxy. The armor he wears is actually called an "enviro-suit." He told me about his immune system, about how the suit kept him healthy because his immune system was extremely weak. Apparently, this is true for all quarians. Even though everyone seems to be treating him well, he tells me that the general galaxy treats quarians as thieves and beggars; "Suit-rats."_

_I think that this treatment is unjust and unfair. This man, Kal'Reegar, has displayed noteworthy skills in both engineering and combat. When I graduate, and I am allowed to go where I please as a Vindicator, I want to vindicate quarians, and become their protector in places where they are treated like this. I want to become a "suit-revenant" of sorts._

_In conclusion, I like quarians, but the rest of the galaxy does not. And according to my observations, the rest of the galaxy is wrong._

* * *

**A/N: Hey everyone. Sorry if I forget to add notes on these. I have a lot going on right now, and my cat died earlier this month. Not looking for pity, just trying to explain my absence. I worked through that already. Now I just have a lot on my plate.**

**Not dead or anything, just… busy. Not giving up on this either. Expect more from me still!**

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**New: I'm on twitter now. vindicatorvaga1. Nothing monumental, but I'll try to post stuff there semi-regularly.**

**Cheers. -VV**


	13. Judgement Day

Alpha ripped the geth's head from its shoulders, maintaining a cool demeanor as he spearheaded the assault with Ashley Williams and the salarian STG team. Much to his displeasure, Tali had been assigned to the infiltration team with the others. It was not that he disliked her company, far from it. He just despised the inability to directly protect her.

But he had agreed to his role. Garrus was with Tali, and he trusted Garrus. It was tactically advantageous to assign him to the assault team; his skillset was better fit for loud firefights that drew lots of attention than stealthy infiltrations that remained undetected.

In fact, he found that the rather ungraceful slaughter of geth and cloned krogan was actually a bit enjoyable. He half-ran across the battlefield, using his abilities and melee weapons to kill his opponents with relative ease. An overload there, at the group of geth; a slash with his trench hawk here, beheading a krogan; a stab with his knife there, twisting the blade to disable another geth trooper; turning and throwing that knife to have it land in the forehead of another krogan.

He stayed at the head of the group, drawing most of the enemy fire and killing them as he went. They fought their way into the base, and slowly worked their way inward. All was going well, but of course that could not be allowed to last.

"Hello?" came her voice over comms, "This is Bucket. I got separated from the group. Hellion is here too, but I think they know we're here. We're doing our best to hold them off, but I don't think we can stop them! If anyone can hear me, please help!" There was a pause, then, "Oh, no! Garrus, are you okay!?" The message cut out from there.

Alpha growled frustratedly, punching the wall next to him. He wanted so badly to answer the call, to help Tali. He looked at Ashley.

She sighed, "Dammit, go. I can take it from here."

Alpha nodded his thanks, and fired an omni-line upwards, scaling the wall. He spoke over comms, "Bucket, this is Gears. I read you. What is your location?"

Tali paused for a moment, trying to get a description of the area, "A courtyard. To the west of where you are, I think," She exhaled frustratedly, "Just… here!" In Alpha's HUD, a marker appeared. Tali had given him the location of her omni-tool. Clever.

"En route." He said simply. Alpha sprinted along the top of the wall, letting the pistons in is armor carry him along at a rapid pace while his feet barely touched the ground. He practically flew along his route, albeit very loudly as his footfalls made large stomping noises. He cared not.

Tali fired her shotgun at the advancing geth and krogan. Garrus lay beside her behind the short barrier they were using as cover, clutching his side where a geth sniper had caught him. He was bleeding badly, but neither of them had any medi-gel; That had been the job of the Shepard twins.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she spotted the familiar sight of Alpha's black armored form drop from the far wall, landing on an attacking krogan and wedging his knife into the back of its head. With one hand, he picked up the shotgun the krogan had been using. With the other, he flipped the knife onto its blade and hurled it across the courtyard. Tali watched with grim satisfaction as the weapon plunged into the chest of another clone.

He fired once to his left and right, then spotted another krogan behind her. Without missing a beat, he fired an omni-line as he ran forward, pulling her towards him. He wrapped his left arm around her protectively, pulling her to his side, and with his organic arm fired the shotgun as he would a pistol, arm straightened out ahead of him.

Three shots, and the krogan was thoroughly dead. Alpha turned his head to look at her. "You called?" Tali gave a reluctant smile. Alpha had learned dry humor over the past week. They both turned to resume shooting geth. Alpha gave Tali whatever ammo he had left for the shotgun, preferring to use his pistols instead.

The effort was well placed, as soon enough the geth and krogan forces were thinning out. When Tali turned to see a krogan clone looming behind Alpha, she shouted at him. Rather than seeing the human super-soldier pull some kind of daring melee maneuver, Tali instead watched as someone else surprised her.

Garrus leapt up onto the krogan from behind, gripping the knife that Alpha had thrown earlier. He fixed one arm around his foe's neck, and with his other hand he forced the blade into the krogan's neck, using its desperate writhing to help work the weapon around in the flesh. Quickly, the enemy soldier fell.

Alpha turned to Garrus, who handed him his knife, saying, "Now that is a knife. Thanks for letting me borrow it."

Alpha took the blade, "Anytime. Let us eliminate the remaining hostiles, then treat that wound." Garrus agreed, using his sidearm to help finish off the last few geth. He held the pistol with one hand, and used his other to clutch his bleeding abdomen.

After the remaining enemies had been disposed of, Alpha had Garrus sit by the wall, and gave him a stick. "Bite down on this," the human advised, Garrus following the instructions suspiciously, "This will hurt comparably to the actual bullet that gave you this wound." Alpha explained before producing a canister of bio-foam, the Veins equivalent to medi-gel. While it was far more painful to use, bio-foam was much faster to apply, and hardened into an armor-like structure that was far better at protecting the applied wound.

Garrus grunted in pain as the substance was injected into his side. He found himself instinctively clenching his jaw, and consequently ended up biting the stick. It did make the experience more bearable.

When the application was complete, Alpha helped Garrus to his feet. "Maybe the three of us should stick together. I'd hate to go through… well, any of that again."

Alpha nodded his agreement. He contacted John, "Shepard, this is Gears," he said briskly, "Hellion and Bucket are safe. I am sending you our current location. Is there anything we are near to that is mission-critical?"

"Yeah," John responded, "There's a control room nearby. I'm headed there now. The others are guarding Kaidan while he sets up the nuke. I could probably use some backup."

"Roger that." Alpha signaled to move out, and the trio made their way to the rendezvous point. Resistance was minimal, no doubt due to Ashley's team and their efforts. Garrus and Tali were glad for the break, but Alpha was on edge. Something was… off about this place. As if there was subtle noise in the silence that came from everywhere and nowhere.

They fought their way to the control room alongside John, who decisively did not bark orders at Alpha after seeing the man simultaneously covered in krogan blood and so high-strung. The asari in the room they came across struck Alpha as odd. She acted as though she was, until recently, unaware of Saren's plans. But Alpha had a feeling that there was more to her fear than that.

Nonetheless, after she opened the way ahead of them, John decided to let her go. Alpha was bound to that decision. They advanced into a mid-sized room with a catwalk. They approached the large terminal at the end of the bridge to be greeted by a holographic version of Saren's ship. Alpha found that he was unable to listen to the conversation at hand. He was too focused on the unwelcome entity forcefully drilling its way into his mind.

Alpha could take it no more. He suddenly screamed desperately as he fell to his knees, clutching at his helmeted head, his systems malfunctioning and overloading, sending waves of heat and electricity arcing across his body.

"Get out of my head!" he wailed, "GET OUT! AAAGH!"

In his mind, he heard, "I AM SOVEREIGN," again and again.

Tali looked at the hologram. It almost seemed smug, "It appears that your friend has already fallen to my power. Such a weak-willed one he must be, to succumb so soon to indoctrination. This is why you are doomed."

Tali then felt herself weaken as something entered her suit. Her omni-tool blared warnings at her of a security breach in its systems. She watched in shock and dismay as her suit acted against her, cycling air from the surrounding atmosphere into her lungs. She would be dead in minutes.

Garrus ended the madness by shooting the terminal with his rifle. Alpha ceased his howling, somehow free of the Reaper's grip. Tali's suit returned to keeping her safe, and antibiotics were automatically administered.

Alpha rose to his feet shakily, "That… thing… used my systems to attack Tali'Zorah," he growled furiously, "That… bastard Saren will PAY FOR THIS!" He ended with a bellow of defiance.

They returned to the bomb site, where Tali began to stumble and pant. Alpha rushed to her side, supporting her. "I'm fine," Tali coughed, "That virus, or whatever it was, managed to cycle dirty air into my suit. I'm just a little sick is all."

Then Saren came down on his hovering platform, spouting some nonsense that Alpha instantly ignored, promptly dropping into a feral rage. This was his target, and at last he was vulnerable. He stalked around him silently, waiting for an opening. It was then that he noticed the crashed VTOL atop the wall.

John fired two shots at Saren, for virtually no effect. Alpha followed by forcing himself to think properly, leaping up onto the platform and swinging his trench hawk at the turian's head. Saren countered by shooted Alpha in the chest twice, sending him back to the ground.

The indoctrinated Spectre then turned to Tali, who tried her best to dodge out of the way. To no avail, as Saren unleashed a small barrage of shots from his hand cannon, sending the quarian girl to the dirt in a bleeding heap.

Garrus crouched behind a barrier, watching as Alpha furiously scaled the wall, up to the crashed ship. He knew that the human had a plan of some kind, probably involving the large miniguns on the wreck. Garrus wanted so badly to help Tali, but knew that he could not exit his covered position without meeting a similar fate. Instead, he fired at Saren to distract him.

Alpha grabbed the minigun with both hands, and with a great effort ripped it from the ship. The gun itself had a self-contained ammunition reservoir, so the ship was not needed to fire the weapon. Garrus shot at the other turian, only to have him continue to bear down on Tali. Even John's persistent gunfire did nothing to pierce the platform's shield.

He leapt down from the wall, shouting, "Saren!" when the turian turned to look at him, he gritted his teeth and roared, "DIE, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" He interfaced with the minigun, and opened up.

Saren was physically pushed back by the sheer magnitude of the onslaught. The firepower provided by the minigun made the other weapons used seem like spitballs and slings. Alpha slowly worked his way towards Tali, never letting up on the trigger.

When he finally got between Saren and Tali, Alpha was frustrated as Saren retreated. Alpha dropped the cannon, and turned to survey the situation.

"The bomb is about to blow!" John shouted. In moments the situation went from bad to worse. Not only did they have barely enough time for extraction, but Ashley's team was unable to make it back, and Kaidan was in no shape to move. Jane and the others had just made it back from repelling a geth counterattack. They would have to choose: Ashley or Kaidan.

After a long moment of strained hesitation, John ordered the Normandy to extract by the bomb site. Ashley openly accepted her fate. Alpha died a bit at the knowledge that they were being forced to leave someone behind.

As the Normandy came to land, Alpha went to follow the others, only to halt in his tracks as he realised they were missing someone. He turned around to see Tali, barely staggering her way toward the ship. Far too slowly.

Steeling himself, Alpha made a decision. He sprinted back into the growing flames that had sprouted during the battle, and skidded to a halt beside Tali. Without listening to what she had to say, Alpha pulled her onto his shoulders, and started back toward the ship.

Smaller explosions rocked him as he pushed forward. Deafened, and seeing only the boarding ramp, Alpha single-mindedly marched to his goal.

Garrus watched in awe as Alpha determinedly carried Tali to the ship. Everyone was shouting at him to hurry. "Move!" Garrus cried desperately, "Move!"

Alpha just managed to step onto the ramp as the base behind him erupted into flames. He turned his head to see this, and with a cry of strain, threw Tali into the storage bay. Garrus and Wrex caught the flying quarian, and Garrus could only watch in horror as the shockwave sent Alpha up the ramp and tumbling to the floor of the storage bay.

The crewmen took Tali to sick bay as Joker took off. The bay door shut, and Alpha rose once again to his feet. This time, though, he just blankly stared after Tali's wounded form as they took her away.

He tried to go after them, but at the first step he stumbled. He would have fallen if not for Garrus moving to steady him. Without a word, Alpha walked to the elevator without help, though everyone moved after him just in case. When they exited the lift, the human super-soldier shocked everyone once again.

He took three steps from the doorway, then stopped. Alpha keeled over, falling to his hands and knees, and howled in agony. After about ten seconds, he blacked out.

_Alpha Log: [REDACTED]_

_I will never stop fighting._

_Nothing will kill me._

_I will not let myself die until I have served my purpose._

_Death after victory. Mortem ab Victoriam._

* * *

**A/N: Howdy. Sorry about the wait for these last two chapters. I finally decided to stop hesitating and post them already.**

**To anyone who is interested, go and check out MichaelJarvie on Twitter. He's a cool dude with a sense of humor, and he's a writer like me. Maybe consider buying his book while you're at it.**


	14. Man or Machine

Tali sat by the cot, her wounds causing her great pain. She ignored it, instead focusing on Alpha's ghastly form, unconscious before her. She was crying softly. Garrus was listening to her sobbing. "If I had been faster," she babbled, "he would be okay. I was too slow, and he had to save me because I wasn't good enough. This is all my fault."

Chakwas led her gently from the room and to the sleeping pods. Garrus remained in the sick bay, thoughtfully observing Alpha silently from his seat. He wondered to himself why Alpha had acted so selflessly. It had not been bravery, bravery was acting in spite of fear. When Garrus had watched Alpha carry Tali to the ship, he saw no fear in his actions. While he could not see the man's face, he suspected that Alpha had in fact felt no fear.

It had been over two days since Virmire. Tali had awoken yesterday, working tirelessly on projects when she wasn't in a fit of self-loathing, and Alpha was predicted to wake soon. Indeed, it was a mere five minutes until the human super-soldier opened his eyes.

The first thing that Alpha noticed was that he was without his helmet. In fact, he was without any armor. He looked over at Doctor Chakwas as she approached. She checked him over suspiciously, then nodded grimly at her scans.

"Well," Alpha, tired of waiting, broke the silence, "how bad is it? What damage did I sustain?" As if the universe was answering him, he coughed violently, blood spurting from his mouth. "My entire body feels as if it is on fire."

"That's because it was, in a way." The Doctor answered, "You had six different third-degree burns scattered over your body, eighteen broken bones, and countless lacerations and abrasions. Honestly, though, I'm no longer surprised that you survived."

"Let me guess," Alpha said dryly, "Urdnot Wrex had to carry me here again."

"Actually," Garrus spoke up, "I did. Wasn't easy, but I did. Wrex brought Tali up here."

Alpha gave Garrus an approving look, "You are very strong, for a turian."

Garrus leaned in, "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Alpha realised that his statement sounded very discriminatory. "I meant no offense," he had to pause for a jolt of pain in his chest, "I simply meant that krogan are much stronger than other races by nature. And with my armor I weigh approximately 350 pounds. Most turians would be unable to carry that weight on their shoulders. In fact, most non-krogan would find it impossible. I meant it as a compliment."

Garrus smiled, "Alright, I believe you. You don't exactly strike me as the racist type anyway."

Alpha made to stand up, and found that his armor was sitting in a neat pile by the bed, looking good as new. As he put it on, he gave Chakwas a questioning look as she reentered the room. "I had Tali repair your armor." She explained, then her face turned somber, "Speaking of which, you may want to give her some space. She seems to think that you're angry with her for getting you hurt. I don't know how she'll react to a confrontation."

Alpha nodded. The Galahad armor felt better than ever. Tali must have made some additional adjustments during her repairs. She certainly knew what he liked. He carefully made his way down to the cargo bay, cautiously testing his body's injured limits. Garrus gave him his sniper rifle to use as a crutch, which helped tremendously.

When he exited the lift, he found John berating Tali for her failure. Alpha rolled his eyes. He did not have it in him right now to be angry. He approached John from behind, and put a hand on his shoulder. The Commander frose under the death grip.

"Shepard." Alpha said darkly, "I may be crippled, but that has never stopped me before." John nodded reluctantly, and quickly left. His message made clear, Alpha then turned to Tali. "Thank you for repairing my shell," he rolled his shoulders and flexed his fingers, "It has gone from Galahad to Galahave." He hoped that the attempt at humor might ease the tension. He had no idea if he was funny.

Tali looked up at him meekly, "Y-you're not m-mad?" she whispered frightfully, "I… I thought Shepard would k-kill me. I thought you would just… bust my suit and l-leave me to rot."

Alpha inhaled, leaning on the rifle-crutch, "Now why would I do that? If I wanted you dead, Tali'Zorah, I would not have come back for you."

"I…" Tali choked on her words, "I… thought you would be mad at me," she sniveled, "B-because I w-wasn't g-good enough. Because I a-almost got you k-killed. I th-thought you would h-hate me." Tali was stammering over her tears. She began sobbing quietly.

Alpha gave a sigh, pulling Tali into a tight hug, "But I do not." He let her weep into his chest, standing patiently. He found himself stroking her back, gently shushing her. "It is okay," he whispered, "It is alright. I am fine. I am just glad that you are okay."

The elevator door hissed open, and Atlas stepped out in his trademark leather trench coat and sunglasses. Alpha turned to greet him, and instinctively reached out to steady him when he stumbled. Atlas huffed, "Pathetic, isn't it?" He said in disgust, "You're the one with the crutch, and I need you to keep me from falling. I hate reacclimating to a new body."

"A necessary annoyance, father," Alpha reassured him, "Your immortality is key to our survival. And I do not mind helping you."

The Founder flexed his fingers, "I need to get around to updating the clone template, though; Arthritis is just killing me."

John stormed in, Jane following him with a defeated expression. "Damn the council!" John fumed, "Damn Udina, the political son of a bitch!" He saw Alpha giving him a questioning look, "They're keeping us here! We need to get to Ilos before Saren, but they're grounding us!"

"Fuck!" Atlas exclaimed harshly, "I'll talk to Anderson. Maybe we can make a plan to get you out of here." As he left, and John went to the upper deck, Alpha turned back to Tali.

"This should be interesting," he said flatly, moving to go lie down on his cot, "Father was always an… assertive one. I suspect Udina will soon find himself short several teeth."

Tali sat down next to the bed, "So," she said, refusing to be distracted, "you're not mad at me? Everything's okay between us?"

"Absolutely." Alpha said, "What happened on Virmire was the fault of Saren, not you."

"Good." Tali sighed with relief. They sat in silence after that.

Striding purposefully through the halls of the Presidium, Marvin "Atlas" Black drew more than a few looks as his signature coat trailed behind him. He offered no acknowledgement in return. He brought up his omni-tool, customized to glow a deep blue. He made the call.

"This is Admiral Anderson of the Alliance Navy," came Anderson's voice, "What can I do for-"

"Anderson," Atlas cut him off, "I don't have much time. Normandy is grounded and Saren is on his way to Ilos. We need that ship underway yesterday. I have an idea."

"Ah, you." Anderson recognized him, "Yeah, I know. I think I have an idea on how to fix that, too."

Marvin grinned, "Does yours involve sticking a boot up Undina's ass?"

Anderson smiled ruefully, "No, but he certainly isn't walking out unscathed."

"Alright," Marvin picked up his pace, "Wait for me if you can, I'm on my way now." His Veins info-bracer pinged at him from his other arm. He looked at the display. "Shit." he muttered.

"What is it?" Anderson asked worriedly as Marvin broke into a run.

"My vagabonds are showing me armed units heading your way. They're onto you."

"Dammit, how?" Anderson questioned frustratedly.

"Dunno," Marvin began to formulate and coordinate a plan, "Probably monitoring our call. Don't worry, my signal is scrambled; they can't see who I am. I'm jamming their systems and drawing together an interception-diversion maneuver."

"How?"

Marvin assumed Anderson cared not for the jamming solution. "Vagabonds aren't used for planned combat," he explained as said vagabonds sent him green signals, "but I'm making an exception. You just focus on getting the Normandy out of here!"

A human soldier stepped out into his path in an effort to block him. Marvin's brain shifted seamlessly into combat mode as, without breaking stride, he kicked out into the man's knee, breaking the joint. He then delivered a punishing uppercut to his opponent's head as he doubled over, knocking him out. He was still getting reacclimated to the new body, but he was ready enough for light combat.

Two more soldiers appeared farther ahead, quickly training their rifles on him. Marvin instantly regretted not bringing a sidearm. His problem, however, was solved as a turian boasting black demi-armor emerged behind the soldiers. The alien Vagabond grabbed both of them by their heads and brought them together, making a sound like a melon splitting open.

Marvin waved his thanks, and continued his advance. Anderson appeared on his commlink, "Got it! Normandy is cleared for takeoff!"

'Hell yeah!" Marvin cheered, kicking the helmet off yet another soldier, "I'll contact Joker!"

Alpha felt the Normandy begin to move. He let out a small "heh" as Tali looked at him, shocked. She had been practicing her shooting. "Anderson and my father managed to overpower Udina, unsurprisingly." He sat up on his cot, "I have little doubt that it will be all over the news by tomorrow."

He looked at his HUD as he received a message from Doctor Chakwas, summoning him to the sick bay. He stood, leaning on an actual crutch now that he had returned the sniper rifle to Garrus. He nodded to Tali, who nodded back. Alpha made his way to the elevator.

"Alpha," Chakwas greeted him as he entered, "have a seat."

He did so. "Is there a problem, Doctor?"

Chakwas sighed, "That depends on how you look at it." She gestured to the pda she was holding, "I took the liberty of taking some brain scans while you were still recovering. The results are… surprising to say the least."

Alpha took the datapad, downloading the information through his implants. The results shocked him. His eyes widened. He gradually removed his helmet to look at Chakwas. "Doctor?" He asked slowly, "Are you… sure that this is correct?"

She nodded solemnly, "Yes. The scans indicate that your organic neural components are far more active than your artificial implants. While you were out, your brain showed activity indicative of dreaming." She held up a hand to silence him before he could interrupt her, "I know that you think this is normal, but that's just you trying to rationalize this. Alpha, when you first joined us, you claimed to be an artificial intelligence, using an augmented organic body to function."

Alpha stood, "No!" he said in disbelief. This had come from nowhere, this revelation. What had happened to bring this about? "No, no, NO! This… this cannot be right! My father, The Founder, he… he would never lie to me!" he closed the distance to the Doctor, who did not flinch.

"Alpha," Chakwas said calmly, "these results can't prove anything. They suggest that you're human like me, but I can't confirm anything yet. I've sent the results to Tali'Zorah for further study. She's the engineer, and she spends far more time with you." She placed a hand on his shoulder, unfazed by the man looming over her, "Don't worry about it. We'll get this sorted after the ordeal with Saren is over. I'm sure The Founder will have your answers then."

Alpha hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath. "Alright," he drew back, releasing the Doctor, "I have had my suspicions for some time now, anyway. I suppose that I just was not ready to face this."

The super-soldier made his way back down to the storage bay, where Tali was refining her shooting stances. Alpha grabbed a simple pistol, and took his position to her left. "Come on," he grunted as he shifted into the current stance, "You have neglected to say anything since Atlas left. I know that you are not that focused on your trainingー here, like thisー there is something on your mindー yes, now shootー what is it?" As he questioned her, he interrupted himself to vocally coach her.

Tali fired three shots from her revolver, then without turning, "I don't know. I got the data from Doctor Chakwas, about the brain scans? It's just that… well, I was already beginning to think that there was more to you than you were letting on. Don't get me wrong, I never thought you were lying. I still don't."

"I never cease to produce surprises, do I?" Alpha said wryly, moving to a kneeling stance, "Yes, I was also suspicious of my… less-than-mechanical nature. I have been for three years now. I suppose that I simply refused to accept it. I may be an AI programmed into an organic brain, causing these unnatural behaviors."

Tali sighed, "No, Alpha, that's not what I meant. I think you might be human."

Alpha paused, only for an instant, before continuing his physical instructing, "Unlikely."

If Tali could roll her eyes, she would have then. Alpha was intelligent, but sometimes he could be insufferably stubborn. Even if he didn't know when he was doing so.

_Alpha Log: The Founder_

_Finally decided to record my thoughts on my adopted father. Figured that it had been long enough. The man seems to have several different personalities. Not the disorder, but rather an efficient set of mental "modes" for how he acts. He has even named them. "Gerrae" is the personification of his genetic berserker trait, a battle-lusting anger that he takes great pains to suppress. "Turner" is his creativity and intellect, who comes out when formulating strategies and for mathematics. "Atlas" is not only his nickname of choice, but his rigorous, relentlessly determined, tactical leader personality. People usually see Atlas. Then there is just him. My father._

_He excels in improvisation and formulating tactics on the fly. His ability to defy death allows him to take personal action in the battlefield. While not everything he does makes sense to everyone around him, he always has a reason._

* * *

**A/N: Well, I hope whoever has made it this far has enjoyed it so far. Reviews would be appreciated, since as the author all I can see are the flaws. Kinda makes it hard to find motivation, not knowing what other people really think. But the fact that people read this far into the story is enough to let me know that you are all enjoying it to at least some extent.**

**Either way, I'm still enjoying writing Alpha Logs, and you people are enjoying reading it, so count on more soon.**

**P.S. The VEINS and the associated characters (excluding Alpha) are technically cameos/teasers to the future VEINS standalone series, which has nothing to do with Mass Effect. Their backstories are adapted here. Just figured that I would get that out there that this is technically a crossover, but not really because I haven't started properly writing the standalone series.**

**And yes, I own the VEINS and all associated characters that I don't explicitly specify otherwise. So I can do whatever I want with them. And if you want to make your own stories featuring them, ask me first. Stealing characters, etc. is not cool, and I mainly just want to know if people are doing anything with my OCs, and if so, what they're doing with them. I'm not exactly picky.**

**Okay, just had to get that off my chest, just in case. Later! -VV**


	15. Forward Unto Dawn

_The sounds of gunfire raged all around him. His ears rang angrily from the blast of the grenade that had sent him to the dirt. He picked himself up. There was a job to do._

_A soldier came to his side. "Sir! Are you alright!?" he had to shout over the din of the battle._

_"Absolutely!" he shouted back. Before he could say anything more, the young man's head was turned inside out by a high-caliber round. He said nothing, accepting this reality of war. Rifle raised, he continued his steady advance, spearheading the attack. From this, there was no coming back. This was suicide, and they had all volunteered for it. But Alpha was no ordinary soldier. He would get these men and women out alive or die trying._

_Alongside him were his close friends: Captain Winters, Richard Jacobson, his adopted brother Victor Black, the strange machine Vindicator Zero, and the young Tanna'Shaa. They were leading a suicide mission into a recently captured colony. He was the top dog here._

_And yet, that young man was the last Trooper to come with them. It was just the six of them left now. This was not going according to plan._

Alpha snapped out of his trance to reacquaint himself with reality. He was trudging steadily through the ankle-deep mud and grime that caked the planet of Ilos. The plan had been made clear to him:

The Twins would lead the main assault in the Mako, while Alpha took Tali and Garrus to be dropped one klick out from the main team. He was to lead his small team on a clandestine flanking attack, in order to surprise and pinch off the enemy. While the super-soldier felt uncomfortable leading troops into combat, he knew that he could trust the two aliens to follow his orders and keep themselves alive.

Garrus broke the silence, "Alpha, your thoughts?"

Alpha inhaled, "When I was young, I was taught that I was expendable. I was told that I was a tool to be used then thrown away. It was made clear to me that I was an AI, and that my body is that of a clone. Now?" he gestured to their surroundings, "I am on a nearly uncharted prothean world, working against the clock to stop what could potentially be the end of life in the galaxy as we know it."

"Who taught you that you were expendable?" Tali asked, concerned.

Alpha waved his hand dismissively, "The splinter faction that created me. 'WhiteMask,' they called themselves. They are dead now." He let out his signature pseudo-chuckle, "They were smart enough to employ my mother and father to create me, but not smart enough to not create a monstrosity." He thumped his chest once, "Their biggest crime was their biggest mistake."

"Oh, come on," Garrus insisted, "if you were a crime, I'd have had to take you in back at C-Sec. And you're not a mistake. You said it yourself; you're now exploring uncharted worlds and saving the galaxy."

Alpha shrugged. He cocked his head to the side, listening to a sudden uproar of radio chatter. The other two could hear the faint voices, but failed to make anything out. "What are they saying?" Tali asked anxiously.

After a moment, Alpha responded, "The Founder, along with all Veins forces, have been pulled out of the Citadel. The Systems Alliance and Council forces are amassing a large defense fleet around the station."

Garrus's eyes widened, "Where there's a defending force, there's an attacking force. Any word on what they're defending against?" Everyone already knew the answer.

Alpha nodded slowly, listening to his commlink, "Yes. An enormous geth fleet headed by a ship the size of a city. Spotted by Veins forces. I have no word as to whether or not Alliance and Council forces are aware." He looked at Garrus, then to Tali.

"Sovereign," they all said in unison, picking up their pace slightly.

"How do you beat something like that?" Tali asked, defeat creeping into her voice.

"Study." Alpha responded, "Careful study of their tactics. In theory, they use the same tactics every time. We must find their strategy and find the flaws. There are always flaws, if one is to look closely enough."

When they reached an overlook, Alpha produced a sniper rifle alongside Garrus to observe the courtyard below. This was where they were meant to be. Geth forces were virtually swarming around the giant courtyard, with no sign of team Normandy in Sight.

Alpha took to his commlink, "Shepard team, this is Alpha squad," he spoke, grateful that Jane had been in charge of team names, and that she had kept them simple, "We are at objective Sky. What is your status?"

A burst of static greeted him as a response, and Alpha was tempted to simply shut off his commlink. Then John's impatient voice came through, "Gears, this is Shepard! We're on our way to the rendezvous point! Had to make a detour; Saren tried to shut us out. Move up without us if you can, we'll catch up!"

"Copy that, Commander." Alpha acknowledged, signaling to move down the steep wall. There really was no coming back from this. Using his knife and axe, Alpha took great effort to keep their advance quiet, as to avoid being overrun. Tali and Garrus used their own combat knives, and all of them used tech abilities (mainly ranged overloads) whenever they were able.

Soon enough, Alpha squad reached a long hallway, decorated with strange pods. The few geth forces present were quick work for the three combat techs. After a minute, the door behind them grinded open, and they were met with the welcome sight of Normandy's Mako. Alpha cringed inwardly at the knowledge that they were one down. Ashley's death on Virmire still left him with a guilty conscience. Regardless, they boarded the tank and rode on.

"Tell me about this 'WhiteMask' thing," Tali requested of Alpha.

He shook his head, though not aggressively, "Story for another time, I think. A long one. Too long for the time we have at this juncture. Right now, know that they were a human-supremacist terrorist group, and had been born by splitting off from the Veins. The reason for the divorce is obvious, I should think."

When they reached another closed door, John got up from his seat and motioned for Alpha and Tali to follow him. "I want my best field techs with me, in case I need something hacked." he nodded at Alpha as he clambered out, "And if I need something hacked _open_, that's hitting two birds with one stone." It was not lost on Alpha that he was the metaphorical stone.

The elevator was slow. "An entire race, more advanced than we have ever been," Alpha muttered, "And they, too, failed to construct a lift capable of any semblance of speed." Tali giggled. Did she find him funny? He had not meant for the remark to be humorous.

The lift brought them down to a chamber, and as John took the lead, a hologram appeared before them. Alpha instinctively raised his weapon, ready for a fight, but it was just a VI.

"Warning!" the VI suddenly blared as John approached, "signs of Reaper indoctrination detected!"

"What the Hell?" John grumbled, "What's your major malfunction, you stupid VI? I'm here to kill the Reapers, not help the damn things."

Alpha was suddenly lit up by holographic indicators. Everyone turned to look at him. Alpha looked at John blankly, "My objective has remained the same, Commander: Protect the Normandy and destroy the Reapers. All self-diagnostics read green. This must be a residual effect from Sovereign's stunt on Virmire."

John nodded slowly. He then stepped away from the VI and gestured for Alpha to take his place. "I believe you. You're better with these things anyway." He sighed, "Besides, even if I didn't believe you, you'd probably threaten to snap my spine like a twig anyway."

Alpha shrugged, stepped up to the VI, and interfaced directly with its program, bypassing its insistence that he was indoctrinated. While its behavior would change more to that of his own, Alpha knew that the information stored would be maintained. He thought for a moment, then asked a question that had been tugging at his mind since they had arrived: "What are these strange pods lining the walls?"

"They are cryogenic stasis pods," the VI responded, "Containing the inhabitants of this research base."

While Shepard and Tali seemed stunned, Alpha was unfazed. "Are any of the inhabitants alive?"

"No."

"Was there a malfunction in the cryogenic system?"

"No. Power was limited after the inhabitants entered the stasis pods. In order to conserve power, it was necessary to shut off the pods of non-essential crew members. Afterwards, the pods were shut off in order of importance."

Alpha grunted in frustration. While there was nothing he could do now, he hated to see anyone left behind. "No doubt, these 'non-essential' personnel did not know that they would be sacrificed so?" He shook his head, "Do not answer that. Did the Protheans here find or manufacture anything to be used against the Reapers?"

Bypassing the dialogue subroutines and user interface, Alpha finally was able to simply download the information directly After a few seconds of silence, he pulled his hand away, having collected the information he needed. As they walked back to the elevator, John asked him what he had found.

"The Protheans were able to discover a weakness in the Reapers' plan," he described as the lift started upward, "The keepers are controlled by the Reapers. In fact, the Citadel itself is Reaper-built, along with the relays. But I digress. The keepers are signaled to trigger some variety of shutdown of the Citadel's systems, and open an enormous mass relay to allow their masters to come through. Since the station is used as our central core of… society as a whole, this destroys our structure and allows for the Reapers to hunt us down."

"The Protheans devised a way to prevent the keepers from receiving this signal. Therefore, in order to let our enemy through, someone is needed to manually trigger the shutdown and open the relay. Saren is no doubt the person in question."

The lift doors opened, and the three of them ran to the Mako, scrambling inside, knowing that time was of the essence, now more than ever. They relayed this information to the rest of the team, and John virtually leapt into the driver's seat, throttling the engine.

"There is a prototype mass relay ahead!" Alpha shouted over the sound of the engine, and the main gun ripping apart interfering geth, "We can get to the Citadel through there!"

"How do you know that?" Liara questioned.

Alpha stopped as he realised his answer. "No idea! High probability that it is a result of interfacing with the Prothean VI!" Liara seemed shocked at the fact that he had made a neural connection to a Prothean database.

The mass relay was just up ahead. The beacon of light that marked their way to the Citadel. "So, what's the flaw in their plan, Alpha?" Tali shouted.

He pondered this for a second, "The Protheans. They failed to account for the Protheans blocking their signal to the keepers. Now that our heart is not so vulnerable, we may have a fighting chance. The Reapers now have to improvise, and after an indefinite number of cycles using the same tactics, their improvisation abilities are no doubt dangerously underdeveloped. Using the same tactic without change is stupid."

"And you can't cure stupid." Wrex said from his seat with a grin, hefting his shotgun for emphasis.

They settled in for a rough ride through a relay. Alpha looked at his HUD as a stream of new messages appeared, directly from The Founder.

"_Attention all units: volunteer team needed for the launch of Project Forge. This is a suicide mission, from which there will be no return. General Magnus has already agreed to lead the attack as acting Captain. All non-volunteers for this mission are ordered to evacuate any colonies at which currently stationed and return to Earth. Never surrender. Mortem ab Victoriam._"

The next was directed to civilians, "_Attention all VEINS civilian personnel: Armageddon Protocol is now in effect. Emergency supply divisions are en route to your local distribution station with weapons and supplies. Arm yourselves, barricade your homes, and dig in. Help each other in preparations, and do not act selfishly. Remember: We survive as one, or we do not survive at all. Mortem ab Victoriam._"

The last message was directed at… him? "_Alpha. While Victor may be my actual son, I love you no less than I do him. I am aware that you probably have some crazy plan to single-handedly retake the Citadel, but please, stay away from there. I have a plan, and if the plan fails, we need you alive to help fight against the Reapers. I don't expect you to respond, but please, stay away!_"

Alpha knew that he would have to defy his orders. He brought up his omni-tool, and punched a simple message as they entered the mass relay in a Mako.

"_Goodbye, Dad. Give Tali the gift we put together, will you?_"

_Alpha Log: Victor_

_Victor is my adopted brother. More accurately, I am his adopted brother. Apparently, during one of his excursions, The Founder was captured, and in an effort to… I do not even know what their end goal was, maybe extortion? Forceful collection of his genes? One way or another, a woman from the terrorist group that captured him ended up raping him, and ended up pregnant with his baby. He chose to wait nine months to escape, purely in order to save his new son after killing his mother and her terrorist friends._

_Victor grew up under the care of his single father, and when he came of age to enter into the VEINS Military Coalition, he was given the option to rise in the ranks on the word of his father. A man of reputation, Victor instead chose to enlist as a recruit, and work his way up the ranks like everyone else. It was around this time that I came into the family, and enlisted alongside him._

_Victor is one year older than me, and I ended up using my offered leverage to enlist early. This way, we were in it together. He was my first ever friend, other than The Founder. We do not get to see each other very often, him the Admiral of the First Fleet, and I The Founder's personal agent. I have not seen Victor in over a year now. And now that I have just agreed to join an Alliance ship, the Normandy SR-1, it will be far longer until I see him again._

_I miss Victor._

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the wait. Thanksgiving was a really busy time! For personal reasons, I decided to quit my job at the local grocery store, and the 30th was my last day. Hopefully, this means I'll have a bit more time on my hands, what with school still being a thing I have to deal with.**

**We are coming up on the end of Volume 1! Exciting! Stay tuned as the epic conclusion to Byte the Bullet draws near! Any and all support is appreciated!**


	16. On Death Row

He surfaced from the acceleration-induced blackout almost immediately. The first thing that he noticed was that he was no longer in the Mako, and that wall was coming towards him rather fast…

Alpha braced himself as he careened into the wall, having been thrown clear of the Mako as it tumbled across the floor of the Citadel. Wasting no time, he lunged forward, grabbing the tank and digging his boots into the hard floor, getting what grip he could, stopping the vehicle in its tracks. He breathed heavily for a moment, catching his breath, and then went to the hatch to check the crew. He noticed that his helmet visor was damaged, and he removed the armor piece, seeing that it was damaged beyond use.

John was unconscious, Jane was struggling to free herself, Garrus was attempting to help her. Wrex was hoisting a battered John from his seat. Alpha swung in through the hatch, swiping at Jane's restraints with his axe, cleaving them apart and allowing his turian friend to pull her out. But Alpha's mind was far more focused on finding Tali, who was still unaccounted for.

Then he heard her voice, ever so faintly moaning in pain from outside. Alpha leapt out through the hatch, pounding across the ground to find Tali pinned underneath a pile of rubble. She had been thrown clear as well. Nearby was Liara, who was trying not to fall from the balcony.

Alpha did not even have to think. With one hand, he fired an omni-line to Liara, helping her up, while with his other, bionic arm, he charged a powerful pulse, and brought his fist down on the rubble, sending chunks of debris flying every which way.

He heaved Tali from her imprisonment, and checked her over. She was uninjured, but there was something that seemed off.

Tali gave him a terrified look as she realized it too. "My suit's been breached!" She cried, "Keelah, it's bad! I'll be dead in minutes!" She clung to him, "What am I going to do!?"

Alpha pushed her away, much to her surprise. "No, no, no, no no NO!" he caterwauled as his mind raced. Then he had it. He quickly disassembled his armor, then just as rapidly began to fit it onto Tali's body.

"What are you doing?"

"The Galahad armor is EVA capable, with the introduction of its improved helmet," he explained as he slapped the pieces over her damaged suit, "The body portion was already airtight, and your own helmet is undamaged. With internal cleaning and sterilization, it can protect even a quarian from the elements. You are not dying!"

Tali tried to move away, "Alpha, I can't! You need your armor!"

Her gesture was useless. Alpha took the armor's locking mechanism, and snapped it off. "You. Are. Not. Dying."

John awoke, and opened his mouth to start giving orders. "Alright, everyone," he groaned, "here's the plan-"

Alpha cut him off. "To Hell with your plan!" he snapped, "I am taking point!" As if to further prove his point, Alpha drew his pistols, his weapons now attached to him via an emergency tactical harness over his skin-layer suit. "I am _through_ simply following orders and watching from the back!"

John leapt to his feet, "Now you listen to me, tin man! This isn't a game! This is war!"

"No." Alpha growled, a sound that made John's blood freeze, "This is personal."

Alpha motioned for the group to follow him, and follow they did, albeit somewhat hesitantly. The Avina terminal was malfunctioning nearby, and Alpha silenced it with a bullet. He was not in a tolerant mood. He was in the mood to kill. On the tower, high above them, Sovereign drew ever closer to the control room.

As they moved ahead, Alpha heard a loud broadcast over his commlink. In fact, judging by their reactions, everyone else was receiving it too. Alpha looked back, out into space, just in time to see a massive black dreadnought appear from FTL. The Veins logo was emblazoned on the port side, a bright white on the matte black.

"Attention, all Alliance and Council forces," the man on the broadcast said, "This is General Magnus, of the Veins Military Coalition. The _Hammerforged_ is on the field, ready to engage enemy forces. Weapons are primed and engines are hot. If you can, regroup and pull out your wounded."

Alpha knew it was a gamble, but he tried contacting the General regardless. Luck was on his side that day, it seemed, as within seconds he was able to establish a secure link. "General Magus, sir!" he shouted over the sound of a new firefight, "This is Blackcell Alpha, activation code Delta-514! I am currently on foot on the Citadel, heading to the main control room at the top of the Presidium with the Shepard twins and the rest of team Normandy! What can you do from your position?"

"Holy Hell!" Magnus responded, "You're on foot!? Shit! I didn't realise we had a Blackcell down there! We'll do our best to keep those bastards off you from up here! Give 'em Hell, Alpha!"

"Good luck, General." Alpha hoped that he had used the correct statement, but there was no time to check with Magnus. He kept one eye on the _Hammerforged_ as they fought their way forward. Within minutes, geth ships were overwhelming the massive dreadnought, a ship that had taken the Veins so much time to assemble on Earth, the ship that he and Tali had seen there, was being torn apart so quickly.

Alpha advanced without pause. An unstoppable force, he plowed through all in his way. The first few geth were given precision shots to the chest, while the first krogan was simply flipped over his shoulder and stabbed in the throat. Path was hard fought, but he marched onward.

_Not one step back._

He hurled an overload at a geth sniper, frying it on the spot. A krogan battlemaster charged him, and Alpha dashed forward to meet him, jumping into the air at the last minute and using his opponent as a ramp, taking two hard footfalls on his chest and head. As Alpha came down, he drew his trench hawk, utilizing his momentum to bring it down on another krogan clone.

_Show them what you were created to do._

Wrex took down the battlemaster with a joyous roar. As they moved up, Alpha saw a large group of enemy forces moving to flank them. "Not on my watch, Fuckers." He muttered, signaling for everyone else to move ahead while he dealt with this little… inconvenience.

_Never surrender._

Tali followed Garrus as the group moved up without Alpha. A geth dropship soared overhead, and she instantly knew that there would be trouble ahead. Her shotgun turned geth units into scrap metal, and the turian's sniper rifle punctured even the thick skulls of the oncoming krogan.

Kaidan came up behind her. She realized that she had not noticed him earlier. When she gave him a questioning look, he just grinned bitterly, "At least you had the big metal man to dig you out. I had to get myself out of the rubble. L2 or L3, biotics are a lifesaver."

As they moved ahead, the dropship came into view. Tali recognized two turrets nearby, and moved to bring them online. The first was easy; just a quick wiring solution and it was firing steadily at the enemy ship. The second, however, required some complex hacking.

Just then, out of the corner of her eye, a small group of familiar-looking, glowing orange lines flew across the battlefield over their heads, latching onto the dropship. Tali looked up from her hacking to see Alpha standing atop the rightmost wall, several omni-lines clutched in his hands, pulling hard on the grappling lines as his heavy boots, the one portion of his armor he had kept, gripped the side of a small barrier, Alpha practically standing horizontally as he actually pulled the geth ship toward the guns.

She completed her hack, and watched with satisfaction as the twin batteries repeatedly shot the geth craft point-blank. The ship was destroyed in seconds. Alpha dropped from the wall, sweeping the legs out from beneath a geth rocket trooper and driving his combat knife into its neck. He looked at her, his bionic sun-yellow eyes were mere pinpricks, piercing straight through to her soul. He nodded approvingly. "Good thinking, hacking the batteries."

Then Joker's voice came over the radio, "Commander, the _Destiny_ _Ascension_ is broadcasting an emergency distress signal. The Council is aboard. Should we move in to assist?"

Before either Shepard could answer, Alpha beat them to it. "I will handle that, Mr. Moreau." Switching to General Magnus, he ordered, "General! Move to assist _Destiny_ _Ascension__!_ Protect that ship at all costs!"

"The Council ship?" Came the response, "No offense, but why defend those uptight political jackasses?"

"I gave you an order, soldier!" Alpha barked, "Either defend that ship or else we lose this war before it has even begun!" There was no response this time, but Alpha saw the massive battleship change course to protect the Council flagship. Pushing forward, he drew alongside Tali.

"Is the armor holding together? Is it keeping you from exposure?"

"Yes." Tali said gratefully, "Thank you for asking."

As they entered the master control room, Alpha spotted his prey at last: Saren Arterius. He roared with rage, charging forward as he fired his pistols wildly, primal rage filling him.

Then he felt it: the bullet, slicing through his chest. Piercing his heart.

Alarms screamed at him from within his augmented brain, and the bone-chilling sound of his own heart racing towards the point of flatlining filled his ears. Alpha stopped in his tracks, stumbling as he felt his skin grow colder.

Was this really how his story ends? So suddenly, when he was so close to completing his goal? Through his rapidly blurring vision, he could see Saren, smug as always, holding a simple hand cannon, one barrel smoking ever so faintly. In an act of defiance, Alpha raised his arm, taking aim to finally put an end to this madness.

Too late. Saren shot first, and this time, Alpha was not so lucky. The bullet drilled neatly into his forehead, and right into his brain. And with that, Alpha Black, the unkillable soldier, after so many missions in service of the galaxy, fell backwards limply.

And blacked out.

…

Alpha opened his eyes to a familiar sight: a blank white room with one other person. That person, of course, was his subconscious. This was something that happened to him whenever he had a near-death experience; his mind would send him to this hallucination to talk to himself.

While he was wearing his combat gear, his parallel was wearing jeans, sneakers, and a hooded sweatshirt. He turned to look at Alpha. "Well, well, well," he began, "back again, are we? With a bullet to the brain, eh?"

"Hello, Omega," Alpha said coldly. He had designated this personification of his mind "Omega."

Omega feigned offense, "You wound me, sir. No love for the rest of your brain?"

"What do you want, Omega?"

Alpha's twin shrugged, "Well, I don't think you need me to tell you that we're dying. You're about to flatline in, oh, five minutes I'd say? Bullets tend to do that."

Alpha's eyes widened, "The bullet punctured my heart! It should have stopped already!"

Omega grinned, "What? After all the work WhiteMask went through to build you, you really think they wouldn't account for someone trying to put one through your vitals? Nah, our heart's augmented for this. Though they could never risk actually testing it on you, they installed some neat little bits in your chest to keep you going."

Alpha looked around exasperatedly, "Well, what now? I am dying, unable to move, and Arterius is still alive."

Omega shrugged again, "Look, bud; I stopped trying to convince you to stop fighting some fifty near-death experiences ago. I've gotten to the point where I'd rather see you live and keep going instead. Call it Stockholm syndrome. But this time?" he gestured to the hole his Alpha's head, "I don't think we have a choice. Sorry, Alph, but you're done. _We're_ done. This is as far as we go, the end of the line, the final destination."

Then, in reality, through his fading senses, Alpha heard a sound. A sound that made his blood boil and his skin burn. He heard Tali scream in pain. For a brief instant, he saw through his dying eyes as Saren shot the quarian girl through her visor, the bullet grazing her neck.

Alpha looked at Omega with fire in his eyes, clenching his fists as he felt a flicker of life return to him. Omega raised his hands defensively, "Woah, big guy, I'm not looking to fight you. I'm just doing my job."

"No," Alpha shook his head, "I have unfinished business in the world of the living." Focusing every mental resource remaining in his dying mind, Alpha returned to his body. Through sheer force of will, he opened his eyes, and took a rasping breath. He brought himself to his feet. He drew his revolver, levelling the barrel at Saren's left temple.

And squeezed the trigger.

…

Alpha's breathing was labored. Every joint in his body screamed out in pain as he lurched forward, moving like a puppet with half of its strings cut. When Saren's body fell through the glass below his platform, Alpha jumped right down after him. He fired again and again into the corpse until the six-shooter was empty, then holstered the weapon, turning to find Tali.

She was standing, leaning against a wall, watching in disbelief as a dead man walked towards her, his movements gradually becoming smoother as he went. Alpha's only remaining thought was to make sure she lived. He knew not how he would do it, he only knew that he would do it.

When Tali pointed and cried out a warning, Alpha turned his head to see Saren's skin burn away as an augmented skeleton rose in its place, eyes glowing as Sovereign's voice blared, "You should have died on Virmire, human!"

His head exploded in pain as the Reaper launched a full-scale attack on his mind, assaulting his dying consciousness with commands. Alpha fell to one knee, doubling over as he wrestled for control of his own body. Sovereign was aiming directly for the control of his augments and synthetics.

The Reaper managed to gain control of Alpha's synthetic arm. He fought against Sovereign's influence, but ultimately was forced to watch as his hand grabbed his revolver, and slowly took aim at a wounded Tali.

"_Before you die,_" Sovereign said in his mind, "_you will witness the one you care for most die by your hand._" Alpha fought harder than ever against the foreign will, determined to save Tali. Tears of pain mixed with the sweat on his face as they streamed down from his eyes. He gave something between a scream and a whimper as he fought to protect her.

He failed. His finger pulled the trigger against his will. Tali screamed and clenched her eyes shut as the hammer of the hand cannon flicked forward. Then everyone heard the sound.

Click.

Alpha suddenly sneered, whirling around a pistol-whipping Sovereign-Saren. He had emptied the gun into the corpse before, and neglected to reload. He tossed the weapon aside, and drew his trench hawk. Alpha hurled the axe at the mechanical skeleton.

The trench hawk lodged itself into the Reaper's chest, sending it staggering backwards. It recovered quickly, leaping across the room at Alpha, who reacted instantly, crouching slightly and catching Saren in a judo-throw, launching him at the opposite wall.

Before his opponent could recover again, Alpha fired an omni-line, latching onto the Reaper and pulling him back. However, Alpha accompanied the attack with a forward leap, using the momentum and the pull of the grappling hook to meet the reanimated corpse halfway, landing both feet squarely on his chest and kicking hard, forcing Saren back into the wall with Alpha landing on him.

He quickly drew his combat knife, and without hesitation, drove the blade into his enemy's skull, pulling himself up to the Reaper's ear as he whispered hoarsely, "You should never have stolen my arm and shot my quarian." He then pushed off from the wall, pulling his knife down and away, splitting Saren's skull in half, killing him once and for all.

Through his radio, he heard Magnus, "All allied forces! This is _Hammerforged_! _Destiny_ _Ascension_ is safe, but we are being overwhelmed by geth forces!" There was a pause as explosions were heard in the background, "We're fucked! Initiating Protocol Zero! All allied forces, pull back! I repeat, get the Hell away from the _Hammerforged_!"

With that, the prototype cruiser erupted in a massive explosion. Protocol Zero meant detonating the engines and overloading the jump drive (Veins ships did not use drive cores, instead separating them into engines and jump drives). All ships that were anywhere nearby would be annihilated in the blast.

Outside the tower, Alpha saw Sovereign's shields falter and fail. In seconds, the Alliance fleet was pounding the dreadnought, and Normandy swooped in to deal the finishing blow with its main gun.

Consciousness fading rapidly, Alpha surged towards Tali, tackling her to the ground and powering his kinetic barriers to maximum. Just in time, as the wreckage came crashing down around them just an instant later.

He clamped his eyes shut in concentration, knowing that he was living on borrowed time. He would die here, but at least Tali could survive.

…

The soldiers searched through the rubble, Alliance, Council, and Veins alike. Team Normandy was found rather easily, though neither twin was found for some time. Just as the team began to mourn, John came climbing out of the wreckage, with Jane using him for support. As they all began to rejoice, Garrus noticed there were still two people unaccounted for.

"Uh, hey, guys?" he said, panic starting to claw at his chest, "I hate to ruin this moment, but… where are Tali and Alpha?"

The others realized almost instantly that he was right. Everyone started to comb the rubble once again, desperately searching for the two engineers. It was Enforcer Medina, the same human from Feros, who found them.

He happened to be looking in the right spot when he saw the rubble shift, and heard soft crying. Medina shouted, "I've got a live one over here!" Garrus was there in a heartbeat, his turian limbs able to scale the difficult terrain with relative ease.

The two of them managed to lift the larger pieces away, to see Tali pinned underneath the larger human, who was not moving. Tali had been the source of the sobbing. Alpha's right hand was positioned directly over the spot in her visor where the bullet had pierced, sealing the hole.

As the others gathered around the scene, Garrus leapt down to pull Alpha off of Tali. His eyes were open, but they were completely black, devoid of life. His lips were blue, as were his veins that could be seen through his tattered suit. As the Enforcer helped Tali to her feet, Alpha's eyes suddenly came to life, glowing a faint yellow, as he gasped for air.

Without hesitation, Alpha looked to Tali. Nothing else mattered anymore. His dying mind was in haze, new thoughts and emotions surging forth like a tsunami, but one thought managed to claw its way to the fore.

He stumbled up to her, grabbing her arm and placing a hand on her neck. He stared into her eyes, looking for something, but he didn't know what he was looking for. His right hand worked its way up to her visor as he turned her away from everyone else. Weakly, he released her mask, revealing her face.

There it was. The thing he had been looking for. Her eyes. Her face. The girl underneath the suit. The final thing he wanted to see before he died. Tali just stared at him, unable to think, unable to react.

Alpha then stopped thinking. He just acted. He brought his head forward, and kissed her. She was warm, and he was so, so cold. He held her close to him like that for what felt like forever. He wished it would last as long.

When he pulled away, he smiled. Just a small expression, but to Tali, it meant the world. Alpha never smiled. It was a weak, strained smile, but it was genuine. He lifted his left hand to his neck shakily, and produced a set of dog tags from beneath his suit. He pulled them off, and gently placed them around her neck like a necklace.

He brushed his fingertips along her face. Though he was cold like ice, Tali almost leaned into the gesture, tears streaming down her face. "Please," She cried, "Don't leave me!"

"You're so…" Alpha breathed, "beautiful…" And with that, he fell to his knees, light fading from his artificial eyes. "I'm sorry…" his voice was barely a whisper, "I'm sorry… that I couldn't keep… my promise."

"It's okay," Tali wept, kneeling down with him, "You'll always be with me, right?" she touched the dog tags around her neck.

Alpha fell back, lying on the ground, and he whispered, "Thank you, Tali'Zorah."

"For what?"

"For everything."

And with that, Alpha, destroyer of Reapers, hero of humanity, and the man Tali loved, closed his eyes, whispered, "Goodbye." And died.

And after, Tali wept. And everyone mourned the death of a legend.

_Alpha Log: Pilgrimage Gift_

_After our trip to Earth, I was reminded that Tali must obtain a "pilgrimage gift" before she can return to the Flotilla. During the nights, while she slept, I sought the help of The Founder to assist me in assembling what I had in mind. When I told him about my idea, he agreed immediately. My father is a great man that way, always willing to help someone in need._

_ It took the entire week, and I failed to sleep at all during the duration, but in the end we succeeded. Though the mission must come first, I made sure to keep an eye on the final step: the transport. The gift itself comes in two parts, but the transport was extremely important; It had to be exactly the correct model and date, or it would not work._

_After the mission to kill Saren is complete, and the galaxy is once again safe from threat, I hope to personally bestow this gift unto her. It will be a grand final note to this grand score, one that will not be able to be topped! For the first time in years, I believe I feel excitement. Excitement to make an impact without killing, for once in my life._

* * *

**A/N: And there we have it, folks: the end of ME1 completed. What a ride! And what a conclusion! But don't worry; there's more to come. Much more!**

**Will our favorite cybernetic sociopath finally meet his end? Or will he cheat death once again? And in either case, what will Tali'Zorah do?**

**Volume one isn't done quite yet! Stay tuned for the answers to these questions!**


	17. The End of the Beginning

_-Twelve hours after the attack on the Citadel_-

The ship was full of cheerful decor and music. This was the human holiday of "Christmas," or at least it was growing close. All across the EF-0 _Dominus Ultra_, bright colors of red and green were strewn about in the form of ribbons, wreaths, ornaments, and the occasional pine tree, also covered with decorations.

As he wandered the halls of The Founder's megacruiser, he wondered how the man was able to keep such a tight grip on his forces and remain in such serious status when his military ships were allowed to behave like this. While he had served aboard many relatively laid-back military ships, he had never seen anything like this before.

He heard footsteps behind him, and turned to see The Founder himself walking casually down the corridor, admiring the decor. In the background, the intercom played christmas music at a non-invasive volume. It was easy to ignore, but simultaneously required no strain to hear. The Founder noticed him.

"Mister Vakarian," Atlas said in passing, giving him a crisp nod. When Garrus matched his stride, he continued seamlessly, "How're you holding up?"

Garrus shrugged, then winced as the motion sent a sharp sting through his shoulder, "I've been better, and I've been a lot worse. Guess I can't complain, considering that I even lived to tell the tale."

Atlas clicked his tongue. That seemed to be his generic response in conversation. Some people might say "yeah," or "oof," but The Founder just clicked his tongue.

"So," he said, trying to find something to talk about other than the recent mission, "What's with all the decorations?"

Atlas gave him a look, "You don't know? It's only the biggest holiday we humans celebrate."

Garrus grinned, "I know what Christmas is, Atlas. What I don't know is how the largest and most powerful ship, _military_ ship for that matter, in your entire arsenal is allowed to celebrate with such… passion! How do you keep a crew combat-ready when the ship looks like this?"

Atlas laughed, "Simple: Make sure everyone knows who's in charge and what to do in case of attack. We do drills regularly, and I try to lead by example, not by being a hardass. People do what I say because they like me, and I try not to give them a reason not to. Hence the decor. But I have strict policies about what people are allowed to put up. Anything that might obstruct access to something is forbidden."

Indeed, with this new information, Garrus noticed that not a single decoration was in the way of anything. From walkways, to doors, to maintenance panels, nothing was obstructed. He turned back to The Founder, "So, doesn't this holiday also consist of gift giving?"

"Yup," Atlas smiled, "Something that we Veins types don't skimp on either. Tools, weapons, materials; you name it, chances are someone in the society has given it as a gift."

They walked in silence for a time, then Enforcer Medina approached them. He first turned to The Founder, snapping off a quick salute, "Atlas, sir. It's good to see you." he then addressed Garrus, "Might I inquire as to the identity of the turian accompanying you?"

"Pleasure as always, Holden. This is Garrus Vakarian. He was part of the team that saved the Citadel."

The Enforcer extended a hand, which Garrus accepted happily. The human smiled, "Guess I didn't recognize you, eh? Nice to finally have a proper introduction. I'm Junior Enforcer Holden Medina, 82nd Infantry Division, and Tactical Reconnaissance Cadet under Lieutenant Richard Jacobson. I already know who you are."

"Nice to finally meet face-to-face without a hail of gunfire to ruin the moment." Garrus joked. Both humans laughed at the remark.

"Anyway," Medina calmed down, "Anywhere in particular you're looking to go, Vakarian? I know this ship inside and out."

It struck Garrus that he didn't actually have a destination in mind. Then his stomach growled angrily at him, and that question was answered. "Well, a meal sounds great right now."

Atlas spoke up, "I can show him the way, Medina; I was thinking of grabbing a bite anyway. You can go and have fun with your family."

The Enforcer smiled happily and nodded his thanks, then trotted off. When he was out of earshot, Garrus looked at The Founder, "He has family aboard!? You have civilians aboard a military ship!?"

Atlas chuckled, shaking his head, "No, Garrus; his family serves aboard the ship. They're all enlisted. He only gets to see them so often, since he's more or less the only one not permanently stationed aboard."

"Oh, so you try to keep the family together? Most militaries don't care in the slightest about that."

The Founder clicked his tongue.

Satisfied, Garrus let The Founder lead him to their current deck's mess hall. Due to the size of the cruiser, each deck was fitted with its own mess hall. When they arrived, Garrus saw that the rest of the Normandy ground team was already there, eating and conversing quietly.

Garrus gravitated towards an unnaturally silent Tali, who was sitting slumped at the table without any food before her. "Nothing good to eat, I take it?" Garrus cracked, hoping to lighten the mood, "Human ships never get anything good for the dextros aboard." Tali just shrugged. Garrus was at a loss.

Then, saving the day yet again, Atlas put a hand on her shoulder from behind. Quietly, he asked, "How're you holding up?" Once again, Tali shrugged. But this time Garrus saw her eyes subtly brighten with hope. Atlas patted her shoulder comfortingly, "Well, cheer up a bit. The life support hookup was a success. Our chances just got a lot better."

As The Founder walked away, no doubt to attend to some other business, Tali seemed to perk up a bit. She looked at Garrus, "I actually haven't looked at the food selection yet. Care to join me?"

"Sure thing. Let's suffer together."

The two of them made their way over to the serving station, where a soft-faced human stood behind the counter. Garrus grabbed a tray, while Tali craned her neck in an effort to see if there was any nutrient paste.

"Well, hey there, newcomers!" The cook said warmly, "Looks like the gang's all here, eh? Your faces are all over the news after yesterday, and it's good to see you all up and about, eating well!"

Garrus smiled. This human was sincerely friendly. While even some of the least speciesist humans in the galaxy held some amount of discomfort around other races at a subconscious level, as they were naturally uneasy around that which they didn't understand. But this cook seemed to lack any discomfort with aliens.

"Got anything for a hungry turian?" He asked hopefully, "Most human ships don't stock anything good."

The human gave him a wide grin, "Well, the _Dominus Ultra_ isn't most human ships. Thirty-one percent of our crew are turians, I'll have you know. Today's dextro-dish on Deck 15 is a favorite, recipe 6: dextro-burgers! Not super creative or exotic, I know, but they're based on the classic levo food, and I'm told they taste almost exactly the same despite the different meats used. And sometimes a simple meal is the best. Something familiar for everyone serving in the Veins!"

Garrus watched with fascination as the human took his tray and served a meat patty between to baked doughs. The cook then fixed him with a hard squint, as if he was trying to read him. He then turned back to his work, applying very specific amounts of different condiments and extra ingredients.

He handed Garrus his meal, "I have a special optical implant," he explained, "It helps me determine the perfect meal customizations for each individual. Tell me what you think of my assessment when you're done!"

The cook then turned to Tali, "And what can I get for you, young lady? The same?"

She hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to respond, "Y-you… do know that I'm a quarian, right? I can't just eat whatever I want."

"Nonsense!" Came the voice of Atlas, returning from whatever business he had been attending to and moving behind the counter beside the ecstatic cook, "Quarians might be a rarity among our ranks, but that doesn't mean we don't come prepared for our most valuable members! A ship flies on a full stomach, I always say. And I've never met a single person who doesn't work better with a stomach full of something that tastes good rather than nutrient paste. Stuff tastes like sawdust and gunpowder residue."

He produced a box, which he opened to reveal a stash of different tubes of the aforementioned paste. But these were different in that they were Veins black with colorful bands on them. Tali picked up one and read the label aloud: "VEINS-issue cherry nutrient paste. Ready for consumption by levo and dextro peoples alike." She looked suspiciously at The Founder, who just smiled, "I thought you said you had more than just paste?"

"Oh, we do, but these babies are great for take-out and snacks. I also said that paste tastes terrible, but this stuff doesn't feel free to sample as you like, and take what you want. Take the whole crate if you want! I'm trying to get rid of the stuff to make room for some new batches."

Tali's eyes widened, "I can take the entire crate? This would be a month's supply of food for five of my people!"

Atlas laughed, "All the more reason for you to take it. I'll keep it here until you head out, whenever that may be." He moved the crate back under the counter, then stood back up with a strange bag. "This is the actual food mentioned earlier. It might not taste as good as the non-sterilized stuff, but at least you can eat this."

"Thanks."

As everyone gathered at the table, Garrus grunted as he bit into the burger. It was the perfect blend of flavors. He was sure that he had never eaten something quite like it before. "This," he said between swallows, "Is some serious gourmet shit."

Tali laughed softly as she attempted to figure out how her own meal worked. Apparently, a tube was to be attached to the feeding port in her helmet, and a series of tiny machines would separate the food into proper portions, then send them up the tube. When Tali finally got the system to work, she found that it was actually rather enjoyable to have to chew her food for once, strange mechanisms aside.

When everyone had finished their meals, Atlas stood to get their attention. "Everyone," he said loudly, so that everyone could hear him clearly, "I know it's a bit early, but I want to make sure that I get this done before you all head back to your Spectre business. It's gift time!"

With that, he retrieved a large cart loaded with wrapped containers. He handed them to their respective recipients, saying, "And, really, these gifts are from the two of us, though I want to give them now in case our friend can't make it in time. Make happy memories rather than painful reminders, right?"

Everyone went about opening their gifts. Liara received a file containing information that the Veins had gathered on the Protheans. Jane got a new special-issue combat-improved omni-tool, John was given a new assault rifle, more powerful than his old model.

Wrex shouted happily as he laid eyes upon Alpha's trench hawk, taking a few testing swings and growling contently as he felt the weight of the blade. Kaidan was speechless at the sight of a prototype L2 Legacy upgrade, which would help him with his migraines and keep his implant from overheating as easily.

Finally, there were Garrus and Tali. Garrus tore open the wrapping carefully, as the object was rather large. When it was revealed to just be a long gun case, he looked over at The Founder, smiling ruefully at the joke.

"Well?" Atlas said, to Garrus's surprise, "Open it up! You really think I'd give you an empty gun case?"

Garrus opened the container slowly, his prank senses now on high alert. He gaped when, instead of some practical joke, he found a sleek new sniper rifle awaiting him. He ran his hands along the frame, assessing the components.

"Ninety-centimeter barrel, high caliber, ergonomic design," he hefted the rifle and held the scope to his eye, "Lightweight build, variable zoom," he shifted his fingers on the grip, "The grip fits my hand perfectly, and the material is… comfortable, but it grips my palm well. The stock is just the right length, too."

"I had our boy take measurements while you weren't looking." The Founder explained, smirking, "That rifle is custom-built to the one and only Garrus Vakarian, the best shot in the galaxy. We can take to the range in a bit for some real tests."

Garrus whipped his head around, eyes wide with child-like excitement, "You have an on-board shooting range!?"

With a smile, the human clicked his tongue. He then handed Tali a small computer chip, with a little black button on it.

When Tali pressed the button, a hologram appeared of Atlas and Alpha, standing side-by-side in front of the eight Veins Admirals. In the recording, The Founder said to the camera, "I'm Atlas, The Founder. Specifically, the founder of the shadow-faction known as the VEINS. You may have heard of us. This is my adopted son," He gestured to Alpha.

"I am Alpha Black," the cybernetic human said in his usual monotone, "This is a message meant for Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, and the Admiralty Board of the Flotilla." The sound of Alpha's voice speaking her name made Tali choke up, and tears appeared in her eyes.

Holo-Atlas went on, "After the weeks my son and Tali have spent together, I have taken the time to bring them to Earth, which is where this is being recorded. I know it may seem a little premature, but I would like to tell the quarian Admiralty Board that, from here on Earth, our own Admirals have unanimously agreed with me that Tali'Zorah is an amazing example of what makes quarians so great. She is a friend of the VEINS, and a friend to me, but most of all to Alpha. If the quarian people are ever in need of our assistance, I am appointing Tali'Zorah as our honorary ambassador to the Flotilla. All she need do is call, and we will be there for you."

"And I will be there for her," Alpha continued, "For Tali'Zorah. I am saddened to know that she and I must eventually part ways, but I want her to know that I will always be there when I am needed most. When this is all over, the Admirals and my father have made arrangements to send me as a representative for negotiating an alliance, and as a guard to Tali'Zorah, wherever she may decide to go next."

"This is The Founder, signing off with the Admirals of the VEINS:"

All ten figures spoke in unison, "Mortem ab Victoriam, Death after Victory. And may we all find peace on the path from war." The hologram switched off, and Tali was silent as she tried to fight back her tears.

After a moment of tense silence, especially from The Founder as he waited anxiously to see if he had accidentally hurt her, Tali smiled sadly, and looked over at the human. "Thank you," she said, and the room relaxed, "This means more to me than you can know."

Atlas rubbed his neck sheepishly, "Sorry it's not a weapon, or tech, or something else."

She shook her head, rushing over to give him a big hug, "I would rather have this."

After Tali had separated from him, she plodded off to her cabin. Atlas then turned to Garrus, giving a sigh of relief, "So, how about that shooting range, eh? John can come to test out his new gun too."

_Alpha Log: Garrus Vakarian_

_Garrus is a hardy, fun-loving turian sniper with a very direct approach to life. He prefers to see the world in blackand white, yet accepts that it is not. Garrus prefers the tools and computers of a gun workbench or calibration terminal to the din of other stations, similar to myself._

_The two of us are rather similar, actually. Tactical combat, affinity for weapons and machines, and a steady hand. He does not hold very opinion for the law of the Citadel, though. This makes sense, somewhat, as his time in C-sec would have acquainted him to every single law and regulation that would prevent him from doing his job. Like me, he would rather simply get the job done with a swift hand and a single bullet rather than a mess of paperwork and political 'red tape' as the term goes._

_Garrus is a man that I find easy to respect. I see him going far in life, and find myself hoping that he can lead others by example. We need more people like Garrus Vakarian in the galaxy._

* * *

**A/N: Merry early Christmas, everyone! It's no coincidence that this chapter and the one coming up next are themed around the holidays! But I just couldn't wait that long, so I'm releasing them now.**

**Look forward to more Alpha Logs soon! Volume 1 is coming to a close! And as an FYI: After Volume 1 is complete, I will be putting Alpha Logs on hiatus to work on requests and other projects. If you think you have an idea for a story that you want me to write, feel free to PM me about it! It can't hurt to ask, at least!**


	18. Man, not Machine

_-Two days after the attack on the Citadel-_

_-Christmas Day-_

The medical bay of the EF-0 _Dominus Ultra_ was eerily quiet. It was the only room aboard the Veins megacruiser that wasn't currently chock full of decor and music. Rather, it was a clean white, contrasting the usual Veins black, with no ambient noise other than the near-silent breathing of the room's only two living occupants.

The Founder tirelessly slaved over the body of his adopted son, who yet remained motionless. Alpha was connected to an arsenal of life-support equipment, preserving him in a state of partial life. Atlas had been working day in and day out in a continuous effort to revive him. At the moment, he was working inside Alpha's chest through the use of surgically-implanted nanobots and detailed real-time scans of his insides. Tali was watching silently from the seat opposite him, next to the medical cot. She didn't dare speak, or risk breaking The Founder's concentration. Luckily, he spoke first.

"Amazing." he muttered.

"What?" Tali asked hopefully.

Atlas gestured to Alpha's chest, "His heart; it was artificial. I just can't get over it. We had always assumed that it was just heavily augmented, but nope, it's a genuine robot heart. No wonder he lasted as long as he did; an organic heart would have stopped long before, regardless of augmentation."

"You sound like you're performing an autopsy." Tali said distastefully.

The Founder looked up at her. Without his usual mirrored sunglasses, she could see that his eyes were bionic, like Alpha's, but they were meant to look real. Indeed, the irises were a pale blue, but the pupils glowed faintly. "I might be doing just that, for all we know," he said almost offhandedly.

Tali was mortified at the notion. Atlas looked at her again and, seeing her reaction, rested his hands on the edge of the cot, taking a break from his work. "Sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I understand that the two of you were close, and I'm going through the same shit that you are. Hell, he's my son! But there's only so much we can do to save him now. He had a hole in his heart for several hours, and people generally don't tend to come back from that."

Tali folded her arms over her chest as multiple doctors entered calmly and quietly, taking over for Atlas, who nodded his thanks. "Well, people don't generally do most of what Alpha can do. Let alone live through it." The Founder gestured to move elsewhere, and she shook her head defiantly, "No. I'm not leaving until I know he'll be okay."

Atlas grinned in a bittersweet manner, "Not trying leave the room, Tali, just have our conversation elsewhere in the room. The doctors need their space to work."

She reluctantly agreed.

"And to answer your statement? Yeah, most people can't. And Alpha isn't most people. But I've pulled my best doctors from around the galaxy away from their jobs and homes to work on him for the past two days, and all we've managed to do is hook him up to life support."

"What about his heart?"

"What about it?" Atlas asked, casually producing the bionic organ from his pocket.

Tali gasped, horrified, "Wh-what are you doing with that!? Shouldn't that be in his chest!?"

The Founder motioned for her to quiet down as some of the doctors shot her smoldering glares. "Normally, yes." he explained quietly, "But we're trying a new tactic. See, this thing's shot, no pun intended, but using several tissue samples from his other vital organs, we've been able to grow a new, organic heart for him using his own DNA. We've even augmented it using some old, refined blueprints that he drew when he was young that detailed his ideal heart upgrades. The doctors installed it last night. You were asleep. I was studying his internals just now in order to reach final confirmation that everything's connected properly. We're going to try to start it today."

Tali felt a new surge of hope fill her. As Atlas went to pocket the heart, she stopped him, "Actually, can I have it?" she asked, "I know it's a weird question, but-"

He placed the metal device in her hand, "No such thing. Just a good one. I can think of a dozen things you could use this for, but I can't think of anything I'd need it for. Take it. His heart belonged to you anyway, by my understanding. And while we're on the subject of gifts…"

He produced a datapad as Tali gratefully accepted the heart. He then handed her the device. Her eyes widened as she read it. "Wait… are you sure you gave me the right datapad?"

The Founder gave her a sad smile, "Positive. I never carry those things."

First, there was an enormous file, and a preliminary check revealed that it contained a treasure trove of data on the geth. Much of it was exclusive Veins knowledge, it would seem.

"Had to keep some of the real juicy stuff a secret, I'm afraid," The Founder said slyly, "We've gotta have _some_ secrets, right?"

The datapad then detailed an extensive list of special-issue Veins military-grade hardware. From simple spare parts to even a few computer modules, the list described enough parts to supply the Flotilla for years. "Given enough time, I could build a whole new ship with these!" Tali said excitedly.

The Founder chuckled quietly, "Actually, you won't need to." he gestured to the nearby viewport, and when she looked out Tali saw an unmarked frigate.

"You don't mean…" she said, unable to believe her eyes.

"Yup." Atlas confirmed, "She's all yours. Loaded with every last piece listed on that pda. Had it refurbished and given a new coat of paint, naturally. That old cargo ship's been sitting in storage for about a decade now, just waiting for someone to take it home. It's a bit old, sure, but it's been tested well. It may not be the fanciest craft out there, but it'll hold together and do right by you if you do right by it."

"I love it!" Tali cried, throwing her arms around him in a tight hug, "Thank you so much!"

"Don't thank me," The Founder said ruefully, gesturing over at the active medical cot,"Thank our boy Alpha. He thought of and organized everything. I just authorized it all. I had no part in the planning otherwise."

"You mean…" Tali trailed off as Atlas slowly led her from the room.

"Merry Christmas, Tali," The Founder said with a sad smile, "From Alpha, with love. He wanted so badly to give this to you in person, to watch your reaction as he did, but seeing as he can't, I'm filling in. I want to make sure you can remember this as a nice memory, and not a painful reminder, just in case. I know it all sounds rather final, but preparing for the worst is my job. Oh, yes, and there was this…"

He produced a small computer chip. "See, the reason he was able to survive that shot to the head was because the bullet hit a neural augment on his frontal lobe. He has some proper brain damage, sure, but the metal bit on his noggin kept it intact enough to survive. We managed to extract the bullet, and get out most of the wreckage, but during that process, we found this little guy fully intact."

We handed her the chip, and Tali took it. "What does it do?"

The Founder shrugged, "Dunno. We've discerned that the implant was a psychological suppressor."

Tali gave him a confused look.

"An emotional dampener. Tali, Alpha wasー _is_ human. The reason he acted the way he did was because all emotions were blocked, because that little shit was stopping his brain from producing the right hormones."

Tali had only a basic understanding of the human anatomy, but their emotions worked similarly to most other species like her own. "So… there was a chemical imbalance in his brain?"

"More like a total lack thereof. The only reason that he could feel anger, of what we've found, is because of a serious concussion he suffered years before he came to us. The implant was damaged and, to put it simply, the angry chemicals were no longer blocked."

"But what does the chip do?"

"Like I said," he shrugged, "We have no idea, other than it's connected to the implant somehow. Figured you might want it, since you might be able to plug it into your omni-tool or something. I dunno, I just know that I don't want it."

Tali took the chip, and in fact found that she could plug it into a port in her omni-tool. Upon installation, the chip booted up. After a moment, Tali reported, "Nothing's happening. I think it was redundant."

Atlas clicked his tongue. They walked silently to the docking bay, where Tali's new ship was being moved to. The rest of team Normandy was scattered throughout, waiting for repairs to finish on their own ship before heading out. They smiled and waved as Tali walked past, and she realised, as they lined up to say their goodbyes, that she would miss tremendously the colorful group of misfits that was the Normandy crew.

When the line had worked its way down, it was Garrus who stood at the back of the group. Last, but certainly not least.

He hugged her tightly, "Stay safe out there, alright? I'd hate to see your name on the list of casualties. And stay in touch? I don't want to fall out with the only other dextro who helped beat Saren."

"Thanks, Garrus," Tali laughed solemnly, "But I think that after all this excitement, I'm going to get a nice boring job repairing things inside ships."

"Not even outside? That is boring."

Tali giggled, "Don't get yourself killed, Garrus. We need your humor."

As the turian walked away, Atlas approached to see her out. He smiled softly, "It must be nice to have friends, hm?"

Tali cocked her head at him.

The Founder looked wistfully at the Normandy ground team, "It's hard being me, though I'm not complaining, since I love my job. But sometimes I'm reminded of the fact that, when on a pedestal like mine, you don't get to make any personal connections and real friends. Just Allies. I have Winters, and a few others from before, but that's really it."

Tali put a hand on his shoulder, "Well, Mister Black," she said with an unseen smile, "I might not be your friend, but you sure are mine."

Atlas smiled warmly, "Thank you, Miss Zorah. If there are any developments with Alpha's condition, good or bad, you'll be the first to know."

"Thank you."

"Now then," He breathed deeply, "Let's get you on your way, yeah?"

Tali nodded, turning to her new frigate's boarding ramp. "I just wish Alpha was here to see this. He would be happy, I think."

Then, one of the doctors from the medical bay came running full pelt, shouting, "Founder Atlas! Sir!" He seemed frantic, as if something had gone horribly wrong, but as he neared, he explained with an exhilarated smile, "Sir, we have a pulse! It's weak and it's erratic, but it's there!"

The Founder turned to Tali with a thoughtful expression. "Looks like you might get your wish, Tali. Merry Christmas, indeed." He quipped with a lopsided grin.

As he led her up the ramp, Tali asked, "Is this always how this holiday goes for you Veins types?"

"Fa la la la la," he said simply.

…

On the frigate, Tali lay on a bunk as the autopilot took care of bringing her home. She couldn't shake a feeling of giddiness. She would be hailed a hero when she arrived! And it was all thanks to Alpha, who she knew just _had_ to survive. Her daydreaming was interrupted by an all-too-familiar voice.

"Well, finally decided to get outta dodge, did we?"

She leapt up from her lying position. "Alpha!?"

There he was. Though, not exactly. The figure she saw sitting opposite her was some kind of hologram, or maybe a hallucination. He looked just like Alpha, but for the fact that he was transparent, and purple.

He shrugged, "Sort of. I lived in his brain for quite some time. I'm more or less all of his emotions that he never got to feel. A personification of his psyche, if you will. You can call me Omega."

Tali was shocked. "Wh-what are doing here, then!?"

Omega chuckled, "I'm in that chip you have there. Don't worry, only you can see me. Which is just as well," he leaned forward, "Because you and I? We have a lot to talk about."

…

Back on the _Dominus Ultra_, in one of the shadowy hatchways, a turian sat in wait. A human joined him silently.

"Finally," he muttered, "Now, what is it you needed?"

The human, clad in a VEINS black trench coat, uncommon but not unheard of, approached him, and with purpose, stated, "Sir, I am in need of your swift hand and steady aim."

_Alpha Log: To Whom it may Concern_

_Over so many years, from mindless slaughter for WhiteMask to finding a purpose among the stars with the Veins, I have held many jobs, and with them, many titles. But for each one, I have worked completely alone. Never before have I truly experienced companionship. Never before have I worked with another being and felt any attachment to them. Even my brothers-in-arms like Richard and Captain Winters, even my actual adopted brother Victor. With them, I feel a sense of commitment and trust, but no psychological attachment._

_That all changed when I met Tali'Zorah. She was different. She was young, she was smart, she was capable and competent, she was kind, and she was kind to me. She was perfect. But I could never let her know about my emotions, as rare as they were. A flicker here, and a spark there, and that was it. But I always cared._

_Now, as we head to the Citadel, and I have just sent a final message to my father, I wonder what the future would hold for me. When this is over, she and I must part ways, and I will likely never see her again._

_I cannot shake the feeling that I will never get to find out. I fear that the Citadel will become my grave. If this is to be the case, then I need only for Tali'Zorah to survive._

_I need nothing else. Nothing else matters anymore._

_This is the mission, complete the mission._

* * *

**A/N: And there we have it, folks! Alpha Logs will be put on hiatus for a little while, but it will be back! Don't you worry! I just have so many other projects going on, here and elsewhere, that I want to work on, and I don't want to burn out on this series due to stress! But I _guarantee_ you, there will be more Alpha Logs in the future, as well as other stuff from me! Stay tuned!**


	19. Epilogue

_-Somewhere in the outer rings.-_

_-And off the radar.-_

The figure looked over his displays and ground his teeth at what he saw. This was not good.

Only one man was able to rival his information network. One man, who knew as many secrets as he did. The lights in the cabin were darkened. There was no need to use valuable electricity on lighting when his displays glowed so nicely.

He pushed a button, and spoke into the radio, "Delta team, report."

"Sir," came the response, "The enemy knew we were coming. They resisted. We lost two of our men."

He grunted in frustration. "We anticipated complications. Was the data retrieved?"

A pause. The answer would be negative. As if only to confirm this, the agent responded hesitantly, "No, sir. A turian, he… he's the one that killed the two of us. He was skilled. He drove us off and-"

"How did you let one man drive the dozen of you away?" He interrupted, "Choose your words carefully."

"We couldn't find him. He had some kind of jacked-up sniper rifle. He headshotted our two, and we had to retreat when we couldn't get a bead on him."

"Then how do you know it was a turian?"

"Because one of us got a glimpse of him. Then the turian shot him in the head!"

He growled quietly to himself. "Return to base for debriefing. We will discuss your failure when you arrive."

"Sir." The signal blinked out. He leaned back in his seat and licked his lips. He had been trying to distract himself from the datapad on his desk.

He lifted the device, looking over its contents. He had an idea as to what it held, but he needed to confirm the rumors. What he saw gave him all the confirmation he needed. He set the PDA on the desk again, and leaned back once more. This was not good. He could worry about the turian sniper later.

"So," he muttered to himself, "my rival managed to keep the quarian girl and her information from my grasp, and his little pawn that stole it from me has managed to recover from his injuries. Well played, human, well played. You may have won the battle, but you have not won the war."

He turned back to his displays. There would be time for speculation later. Now, he had much that he needed to tend to. This was a war of information, and he would win.

He was, after all, the Shadow Broker.

**A/N: Volume Two: Knight to Remember out now!**


End file.
